LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Cliap. Copyright No. 

Shelf__._C_<5_ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



History of the Ritual 
of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church 

Witty a Commentate on 3|tjs flDfKccjs 



By R. J. COOKE, M. A., D. D. 



* 



CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & PYE 
NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 



55714 V 



OCT 3 , 900 

OH OEH OfVfSlOM 



COPYRIGHT, igoo, BY 
THE WESTERN METH- 
ODIST BOOK CONCERN 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 031693 



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Imprinted at Xonclonin 

"Rete/firete,a the signe of 4he Sunne ooct against 
the coa<it*yte, by Edyvaide Whi tckurche . 
The seuei&kdaye of Marche, tke 
^yeart of our ~Lor<le 
1549. 

Facsimile of Title Page of King Edward's First Book. 
Copied for the Author by Mrs. Alice B. Race. 



T H E 



SUNDAY SERVICE 



OP THE 



ME THODISTS 



r» 



NORTH AMERICA. 



With other Occasional Sertoces. 



iONDO 3ST: 
Printed in tfte Year MDCCLXXXIfo 



From an Original Copy in the possession of Mr. Robert T. 

Miller, which is believed to have been used at the 

Christmas Conference. 



Contents 

Btstory 

CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Beginnings, 13 

CHAPTER II. 
Formation, 49 

CHAPTER III. 
Divisions, 83 

CHAPTER IV. 
Parties, 103 

CHAPTER V. 
Sowing and Reaping, 123 

CHAPTER VI. 
Restoration, 146 

CHAPTER VII. 
Transition, 160 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Sources, 176 

5 



6 Contents 



Commentary 

CHAPTER IX. 



PAGE 

On the Office for Holy Baptism, 187 



CHAPTER X. 
On the Office for Adult Baptism, 209 

CHAPTER XI. 
On the Office for Reception of Members, - - - 223 

CHAPTER XII. 
On the Office for the Lord's Supper, .... 236 

CHAPTER XIII. 
On the Office for Matrimony, 260 

CHAPTER XIV. 
On the Office for the Burial of the Dead, - - 270 

CHAPTER XV. 
On the Office for Consecrations and Ordinations, 280 

INDEX. 

Facsimiles of Title Pages of King Edward VI and John 
Wesley's Rituals. 



Preface 
,# 

It is with no slight degree of hesitancy 
that this present work is offered to the 
Church. The subject itself is of such interest, 
and in its true relation is of such practical 
importance, that even after prolonged investi- 
gation and patient study of the many difficult 
questions involved, Historical and Theolog- 
ical, one might well hesitate to put in perma- 
nent form the results of his labors. It requires 
no surplus of genius to make a mistake. The 
teachings of a Church are embodied in its 
Ritual, and nowhere else are they so clearly 
seen or more readily apprehended. So inti- 
mate, therefore, is the relation between Doc- 
trine and Form, that a misinterpretation of 
one is a misrepresentation of the other, and 
the book which was solely designed for the 
encouragement of intelligent devotion and 
Churchly Order becomes the unconscious 
cause of confusion and debate. 

But the possibility of wrong interpretation, 
or of erroneous judgment in the balancing 

7 



8 Preface 

of historical probabilities, should not forever 
prevent the attempt to pioneer the way to 
better things. The need of a work giving the 
genesis, tracing the growth, and interpreting 
the Sacred Offices of the Church must be sup- 
plied some time. From his Chair of Theo- 
logical Instruction there was not a book cov- 
ering the ground of this Volume in the whole 
range of Methodist Literature, English or 
American, to which the author could refer 
his students; and it certainly seemed strange 
that while our ministers were required to be 
proficient in general Church history, and es- 
pecially in the History of Methodism, no pro- 
vision should have been made for their knowl- 
edge of that Book which, with the Holy 
Scriptures, they must constantly use from the 
beginning to the end of their ministerial 
career. 

The purpose, then, of this work is to pre- 
sent in briefest form the History of the Ritual, 
from the early days of the English Reforma- 
tion to the times of John Wesley, with such 
explanations of its several Offices as may be 
helpful to our younger ministry and member- 
ship, in order that throughout the whole 
Church there may be preserved among us the 
loyalty of intelligence to the legacy of our 



Preface 9 

Fathers, and a deep and abiding veneration 
for the Sacred Rites of the Church of God. 
To archaeological or dry antiquarian notes 
on liturgical niceties no space has been given ; 
nor, since the ripest product of critical scholar- 
ship can be so easily obtained, have I deemed 
it at all necessary to comment on the selec- 
tions from Holy Scripture. In the interest of 
brevity also, no notes are written on the 
Forms for the Laying of a Corner-stone or for 
the Dedication of a Church, nor have I elab- 
orated many interesting historical allusions 
and references found all along in my study of 
the Ritual. Indeed, of the mass of literature 
through which I have been compelled to wade 
in search for facts at first hand very little ap- 
pears in these pages, for few, it may be as- 
sumed, would be interested in reading the 
titles of books seldom seen, rarely read. The 
critical student, however, will note my in- 
debtedness to original documents found in 
Burnet's and Sparrow's Collections and in 
Cardwell's History of Conferences, and also 
to the works of Neale, Strype, Lathbury, Mas- 
kell, and Palmer. The only bias an historian 
should have is a prejudice for the truth, and 
in the Historical Division of this work I have 
endeavored to write History, and not Fiction. 



IO 



Preface 



If, therefore, I have failed to portray men and 
events in their true color and perspective, as 
a Puritan, a Churchman, or a Romanist here 
and there may think I have, the supposed fail- 
ure may probably be found not in my con- 
scious prejudice or misunderstanding of the 
situation, but in the partisan view of my critic. 
And, now, there remains to me only the 
pleasant task of expressing my gratitude to 
the kind friends who have encouraged me in 
this undertaking, especially that eminent lay- 
man, Robert T. Miller, Esq., of Covington, 
Ky., who to business sagacity of a high order 
has united in leisure hours the ever-deepening 
love of scholarly pursuits valuable to Meth- 
odism. Would that of many other able lay- 
men, numerous in the Church, it might also 
be said, "Saul also is among the prophets !" 

R. J. C. 



HISTORY 



Chapter I 

BEGINNINGS 
Henry VIII, A. D. 1509— Edward VI, A. D. 1547 

Anno Domini 1784 is a memorable date 
in the ecclesiastical history of the United 
States. In a critical survey of the religious 
development of the Nation few dates are of 
greater interest, and fewer still of greater im- 
portance. The close of that year marked the 
beginning of one of the prime factors, one 
of the mightiest forces in the annals of Amer- 
ican Christianity — the Methodist Episcopal 
Church — the first Protestant Episcopal 
Church organized in the United States. It 
was in this year also in which Episcopal Meth- 
odism began, that Wesley prepared and sent 
over from England by the hands of the Rev. 
Bishop Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law 
of the University of Oxford, a Revision of the 
Book of Common Prayer of the Church of 
England. The title of this Revision was, 
"The Sunday Service for the Use of the Meth- 
odists in North America, ,, and it contained, in 
addition to the Litany and the Daily Prayers, 
13 



14 History of the Ritual 

the English Ordinal for the consecration of 
ministers and Forms for the administration 
of the sacraments. 

The history of this Ritual, the causes which 
led to its original compilation, its gradual 
growth, and the several changes through 
which it passed till it was adopted by the 
Methodist Church, are among the most inter- 
esting narratives of the English-speaking peo- 
ples. Being identical with the English Lit- 
urgy, its history is, to a large extent, the story 
of those religious struggles which, beginning 
in the early days of the Reformation, involved 
in ceaseless agitation the Church, the Throne, 
and the People of England for nearly two 
hundred years. Few, perhaps, worshiping at 
our altars, or ministering in the sacred offices 
of the Church, sufficiently appreciate the 
struggles of that mighty past through which 
this Book of Ritual has come down to us. 
But every prayer and collect and response in 
it has its history. Its rubrics, or directions for 
ordinations or for administering the sacra- 
ments, have been the subjects of debate in the 
Councils of Kings and Reformers ; and for its 
doctrines men have laid down their lives. Lis- 
tening to its vigorous English, or noting its 
devotional tone or expressions of doctrine, 



Beginnings 15 



we are carried back to the stirring, tumultuous 
days of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies. The struggles of the Reformation are 
again before us ; the stake, the block, and the 
gray walls of the Tower of London again 
glide into view; martyrs and confessors pass 
to their reward; bishops and mitered abbots, 
kings and queens, statesmen, lowly peasants, 
and noble champions of freedom, are all re- 
lated to it, opposing it, changing it, defend- 
ing it, or dying for it. In it are the religious 
yearnings of the age in which it was compiled, 
the efforts to preserve for a Scriptural Chris- 
tianity the best that the Church had preserved 
through the ages in the service of her Lord, 
the attempts to compromise between the 
Puritan doubtful of all ceremony, and the 
Churchman seeking a middle ground between 
the severities of Geneva and the superstitions 
of Rome. 

The task, then, before us is to trace this 
Ritual from its origin through successive 
periods to its adoption by the bishops and 
presbyters of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in 1784. But before we take up the history 
of this book, it will be necessary to survey 
its antecedents, to study the conditions, the 
soil, out of which it sprung, and by thus not- 



1 6 History of the Ritual 

ing the situation, political and ecclesiastical, 
as a background to the picture of the times 
in which it had its origin, be the better pre- 
pared to understand the nature of those con- 
troversies which waged arotand it for nearly 
two centuries. 

At the University of Oxford, where Meth- 
odism began, the Reformation in England 
had its beginning. It was here that John 
Wiclif in 1355 opened the eyes of England 
to the aggressions of the Roman hierarchy, 
the vices of the monks, and the religious cor- 
ruptions of the age. Here he preached those 
sermons which brought down upon him the 
anathemas of the ecclesiastics in power, and 
it was here that, realizing the fundamental 
need of his time, he translated the Scriptures 
into homely English. From Oxford enthusi- 
astic students, like Jerome of Prague, carried 
the writings and teachings of Wiclif to Bo- 
hemia and other parts of Europe, where they 
were eagerly studied, and afterward bore fruit 
in the moral uprising of the northern nations. 
Wiclif asserted the sufficiency of the Holy 
Scriptures to direct the Church without the 
aid of a pope, and attacked the doctrines of 
transubstantiation, indulgences, masses for the 
dead, and auricular confession. His influence 



Beginnings 17 



was felt far and near, twelve years after his 
death the Archbishop of Canterbury com- 
plaining that his heresies had infected the 
whole university. 1 John Huss adopted his 
views, and preached them in the language of 
the people, and for his boldness in their de- 
fense was condemned by the Council of Con- 
stance. This Council also condemned Wiclif 
as a heretic, and, though he was long since 
dead, ordered his body to be exhumed and 
cast out. 

Nearly two centuries after the death of 
Wiclif the New Learning, as it was called, 
came to Oxford from Florence. The fall of 
Constantinople, which was regarded as a por- 
tentous calamity, but which was one of those 
dispensations of Providence understood better 
by posterity than by those experiencing them, 
had scattered Greek literature and classical 
scholars over Italy, and the universities of Eu- 
rope in this manner became acquainted with 
the language of the New Testament. The 
writings also of the Fathers in their own 
tongue, Clement, Origen, Lactantius, Euse- 
bius, all of the Ante-Nicene Greek writers, and 
of the historians, Sozomen and Theodoret, 



Lewis's "Life of Wiclif," p. 113, collection 28. Canon 
Trevor, " Rome from the Fall of the Western Empire, " p. 285. 

2 



18 History of the Ritual 

were thus opened up to the scholars of Eu- 
rope, and by the invention of printing, made 
at this time, became accessible in translations 
more or less accurate to all who were unable 
to study the originals. In spite of the oppo- 
sition of the friars, Oxford welcomed the New 
Learning. Cornelius Vitellius was the first 
to teach Greek there, having for a pupil the 
afterward famous Grocyne. There Linacre 
came on his return from Italy, full of the new 
ideas then springing into life; and there also 
the celebrated Erasmus came in 1497, and 
being taught Greek by Grocyne and Linacre 
laid the foundation for those critical studies 
which resulted in the publication for the first 
time of the entire New Testament in its orig- 
inal tongue. 

This Greek edition of the New Testament, 
which was printed at Basle in 15 16, furnished 
Luther in Germany and Tyndale in England 
the text for their vernacular versions, the two 
most potent agencies in the promotion of the 
Reformation. Here also, and chief among 
these Oxford reformers, was Colet, who, like 
Linacre, had traveled extensively in Italy, and 
had caught the inspiration of a new era from 
the apostles of Humanism, which the Medici, 
powerful in politics and liberal patrons of art 



Beginnings 19 



and classical learning, had gathered about 
them in Florence; and here also Thomas 
More, afterward Chancellor of England, shed 
the light of his genius, unmindful of the fate 
that awaited him. 

These were all Reformers in a large sense 
before the teachings of Luther or of Zwingli 
were known in England. By their lectures 
and writings they expelled the Scholastic phi- 
losophy from Oxford, as Melanchthon after- 
ward did from Wittenberg, and substituted 
therefor the study of the Gospels and Epistles, 
as being more serviceable to sound learning 
and a correct understanding of the Christian 
faith. The moral state of Christendom, espe- 
cially the religious condition of England, was 
not beyond the scope of their teachings. They 
fearlessly attacked the ignorance and vices of 
the monastic orders, which had become a 
scandal; they challenged the doctrines and 
arguments which sustained and defended the 
mass of superstitious beliefs and practices ob- 
scuring the truth, and by their arraignment 
of the luxury and pride of ecclesiastics in high 
places prepared the way for the moral revo- 
lution which had been breeding for centuries 
throughout all Europe, and which was now 
made inevitable by the invention of printing, 



20 History of the Ritual 

the revival of learning, and the study of the 
Scriptures. 

But the Reformation in England was of 
slow growth. Subjected at the beginning to 
the passionate impulses of a king, an absolut- 
ist in his theory of government, and whose 
antipathy to the ancient Church, having no 
religious grounds, exhausted itself in anti- 
papal legislation mainly in his own interest or 
to the profit of his courtiers, it was not pos- 
sible for religious reform in England to gain 
at a bound that freedom from the past which 
the movement had reached on the Continent. 
In Germany and Switzerland reformation in 
doctrine logically led to separation from the 
Roman Church. But in England it was sepa- 
ration from Rome that first produced refor- 
mation in doctrine. Henry had no desire to 
purify Christian truth. He was more Cath- 
olic, it was said, than the pope himself. He 
had won the applause of Roman cardinals, 
and had obtained the title of "Defender of the 
Faith" by his polemic against Luther on the 
sacraments, and throughout his reign he 
showed little mercy to any of his subjects who 
denied the doctrine of transubstantiation. 
Henry VIII never dreamed of rejecting the 
teachings of the Church, but only of drawing 



Beginnings 21 



a distinction as wide as his kingdom between 
the political and spiritual authority of the 
Roman Pontiff. For this reason the spread 
of evangelical truth in England was as the 
coming of the morning in a troubled sky. 
Faint streaks of light now and then shot 
through the mists, and gave promise of the 
golden day, but only to be again quickly 
blurred by thickening clouds. Light and 
darkness struggled for the mastery. In many 
a reactionary crisis brought about by the play 
of politics, the conservatism of its friends, and 
the aggressive designs of its enemies, the 
Reformation in England was saved from ex- 
tinction only by the direct interference of a 
watchful Providence. 

The double dealings of the papacy fur- 
nished the occasion for the rupture. In his 
youth Henry was married to Catherine of 
Aragon, his deceased brother's wife. Such a 
marriage was forbidden by the Levitical law; 
but the exigencies of State affairs between 
England and Spain seemed to demand it, and 
a dispensation of the Law was obtained from 
Pope Julius II. 1 When Henry came of age 
he made a written protest against the mar- 



*See the Bull for the King's Marriage in Burnet, 
Records Book II, Pt. I. Also the King's Protest, ibid. 



22 History of the Ritual 

riage but such was the state of the kingdom 
on the death of his father, Henry VII, that, 
yielding to the arguments of his advisers, he 
publicly married her again June 3d, and to- 
gether they were crowned on June 24, 1509. 
The children of this marriage all died after 
a brief life of a few months, only one, the 
Lady Mary, living to full age, and it soon be- 
came a conviction in the mind of the king that 
he was being punished for his violation of the 
law of God. Catherine had in person become 
disagreeable to him, and the sad reflection that 
he would die without a son to succeed him on 
the throne hastened his resolve to appeal to 
Rome for a divorce. Cardinal Wolsey in per- 
son waited on the pope, Clement VII, whom 
he found a prisoner at Orvieto in the hands 
of the Emperor Charles V, and from him he 
obtained assurance that a bull annulling the 
marriage would be issued if he, the imprisoned 
pope, were at liberty. 1 But nothing came of 
the negotiations, either then or after. Clement 
was in mortal dread of the emperor, the 
nephew of Catherine, who would not submit 
to this humiliation of his kinswoman, nor thus 
deprive her daughter, the Lady Mary, of her 



^ee Ungard, "History of England," Vol. VI, pp. 172-3, 
chap, iii, London, 1823. 



Beginnings 23 



right to the succession. Between the king 
and the emperor the pope temporized and 
maneuvered until a seeming accident took it 
out of his hands. 

In September, 1529, Dr. Thomas Cranmer, 
a tutor at Cambridge University, accepted the 
invitation of some friends to stop at their 
home in Waltham. The king was in the 
neighborhood, or was on his way, and his sec- 
retary and almoner, Bishop Gardiner and Ed- 
ward Fox, were directed to take up their quar- 
ters at this same house in Waltham. At table 
the conversation turned on the divorce, then 
a general topic, and Cranmer was pressed, be- 
cause of his learning, for an opinion. He 
finally told them that if the marriage was un- 
lawful in itself because of a commandment of 
God, then it was not possible for the pope by 
dispensation to make that lawful which God 
had made unlawful. Therefore, in his opin- 
ion, there was no need for protracted nego- 
tiations with Rome, but it were better to 
obtain the judgments of the learned men and 
of the universities of Christendom. When the 
king heard of this he was delighted, declar- 
ing that Cranmer "had the sow by the right 
ear," and sending for him to appear at court, 
he was immediately employed by the king 



24 History of the Ritual 

in the all-engrossing subject of the divorce. 
In pursuit of this business he visited Rome, 
and after a while failing to obtain a decision 
from the pope, he traveled into Germany and 
came in close touch with the leaders of Re- 
form. 

In the meantime there was progress in 
England. In order to hasten matters, and 
also to serve as a warning to Clement, Henry 
issued in 1530 a proclamation forbidding the 
introduction of bulls from Rome. Recourse 
to Rome in matters ecclesiastical was also for- 
bidden, and restraint was put on the payment 
of a tax known as annates, or first-fruits. Va- 
rious other acts were passed relating to eccle- 
siastical administration, plural livings, resi- 
dences of the clergy, which last put an end 
to the holding of wealthy livings in England 
by foreign, chiefly Italian, bishops. In 1531 
Parliament enacted that the king was su- 
preme head of the Church in England. The 
entire clergy of the kingdom acknowledged 
the title, with the saving clause added, quan- 
tum per legem Christi licet — so far as the law 
of Christ allows. This clause, however, was 
not acceptable to the king, for under it the 
clergy might hold in reservation the suprem- 
acy of the pope in spiritual affairs, and being 



Beginnings 25 



now convinced that the procrastinations and 
wily policies of Clement indicated that he had 
no intention of granting the divorce, Henry- 
was determined that the jurisdiction of the 
pope should be utterly abolished in England. 
In 1532, therefore, further advance was made 
by the enactments of laws limiting the juris- 
diction of Church Courts. Prior to this, ec- 
clesiastics were not amenable to civil tribunals, 
and thus a wide difference existed in this re- 
spect between the Church and the State. But 
the status of the Church as an independent 
power within the State, and as possessing au- 
thority which the State must support, was by 
this and subsequent Acts materially changed. 
The effect of all this legislation was that, in 
the eyes of observent men, England was rap- 
idly drifting into separation from Rome. In 
February, 1531, Chapuys, the Spanish ambas- 
sador, wrote to the Emperor Charles V : 

"And now the Act has been passed against the 
pope, which I wrote in my last. . . . By this His 
Holiness will perceive the truth of what I have al- 
ways told the nuncio, and written to him, that his 
timidity and dissimulation would not only prejudice 
the queen's interest, but his own authority. . . . 
The nuncio has been with the king to-day. . . . 
The nuncio then entered upon the subject of this new 
papacy here, to which the king replied that it was 



26 History of the Ritual 

nothing, and was not intended to infringe the author- 
ity of the pope, provided his Holiness would pay- 
due regard to him, otherwise he knew not what 
to do." 1 

This was in 1531, and only one year later 
we find the kingdom almost wholly cut off 
from the authority of the Papal See. By Act 
of Parliament it was declared that English 
courts were possessed of plenary power to give 
justice in all cases relating to affairs, whether 
temporal or spiritual, within the kingdom, and 
that henceforth all appeals to Rome should 
cease. This was followed by a law in 1533, 
which granted to a Commission appointed by 
the king the full power, with royal assent, to 
abrogate or confirm canons. This was a re- 
markable Act. It will be observed that such 
a law, so radical in its influence upon the 
power of the Church, lodged the highest pre- 
rogatives of ecclesiastical authority in the 
hands of the king. It was also enacted that 
the bishops were no longer to be presented 
to the Roman See for election, but to the 
Archbishop of Canterbury or of York. No 
longer the pope, but the king alone, should 
exercise the authority to nominate to a va- 



1 Dispatches in Childs' "Church and State under the 
Tudors," Appendix II. 



Beginnings 27 



cancy, or to issue a commission for consecra- 
tion. Before consecration the bishop-elect 
must swear fealty to the king, after which he 
must pay homage to the crown and receive 
by royal permission his spiritualities and tem- 
poralities. 

But greater changes were yet to be made; 
for no event of historical importance, or in- 
deed of any importance, ends with itself. 
Yesterday predestinates to-morrow, and one 
act determines the character of another. War- 
ham, the Archbishop of Canterbury, died 
about this time, and although as the head of 
the Upper House of Convocation he had 
taken part in and had guided the deliberations 
of the clergy in the numerous reforms actually 
and tentatively made, on his deathbed he en- 
tered a solemn protest against the legislation 
of the previous two years annulling papal au- 
thority. This disavowal of Warham, however, 
had no influence on the events transpiring; 
but his death afforded Henry an opportunity 
to proceed more vigorously with the work of 
reform. Thomas Cranmer, who had been a 
sagacious adviser and agent of the king in the 
matter of the divorce, was promoted to the 
vacant Archiepiscopal See. The final breach 
was not yet made with Rome, and Henry 



28 History of the Ritual 

having suspended the law concerning bulls 
from Rome, the pope, still wishing to show 
some friendship, signed the bull for the conse- 
cration of Cranmer as Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, February 21, 1533. The document was 
sent on the 26. of March, and on the 30th of 
that month Cranmer was consecrated by the 
Bishops of Lincoln, Exeter, and St. Asaph. 1 
Cranmer was an ardent Reformer. His 
opposition to Roman teaching was pro- 
nounced, especially respecting the supremacy 
of the pope over the English Church, so that 
when he took the oath of fidelity to the pope, 
on the condition of taking which the pope 
had issued the mandate for his consecration, 
he publicly affirmed in the Church of St. 
Stephen, Westminster, that he did not admit 
the pope's authority any further "than it 
agreed with the express Word of God, and 
that it might be lawful for him at all times 
to speak against him, and to impugn his errors 
when there should be occasion." Respecting 
the character of this prelate who had so much 
to do with the compilation of the Ritual and 
with the progress of the Reformation in this 
reign and in the one succeeding, nothing 
scarcely can be said, even to this day, by one 

^trype's "Mem. of Cranmer," B. I, c. iv, p. 28. 



Beginnings 29 



party that will not be vehemently denied by 
another. He has been extolled by his friends 
and execrated by his enemi.es. By the former, 
his memory is revered as that of a saint caught 
in the meshes of intriguing courtiers and de- 
signing ecclesiastics. By the latter, he is de- 
picted as the servile tool, the pliant ally, of a 
lustful despot, and is even denounced by the 
defenders of Puritanism as a Protestant by 
choice and a martyr by compulsion. 1 Bos- 
suet, Hallam, and Macaulay have each drawn 
his portrait in Rembrandtesque style ; but not- 
withstanding Bossuet's invective, Macaulay's 
merciless flaying, and Hallam's calm censure, 
the truth still remains that Cranmer, in spite 
of his weaknesses and the stains on his mem- 
ory, all of which might have been virtues had 
he been on the other side, was a lover of truth, 
a foe to ecclesiastical tyranny, learned and 
modest, and he will hold his place in history 
as the most progressive leader of the Re- 
formed Church of England in its formative 
period. He was not a hero. He was not a 
Luther, and it is useless to excuse him for the 
sins of his age, for the part he took in the 
burning of heretics, as it is impossible to ex- 
onerate Calvin for causing the death of Serve- 

1 English Puritanism, Documents, London, 1862. 



30 History of the Ritual 

tus. Toleration was unknown to that age, 
for men had not yet grown away from the 
doctrine that for the peace and stability of the 
State the civil magistrate should enforce uni- 
formity in religion; and history that is not 
fiction can no more shield the names of illus- 
trious Reformers from the stigma now at- 
tached to their misdeeds, than it can cover the 
atrocities of Bloody Mary, of Torquemada, or 
of the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands, with 
the mantle of charity. 

As Primate of the Church in England, 
Cranmer gave impetus to the spirit of reform 
already rising among the people. He was the 
leader. Around him as the pillar of their 
hopes gathered other prelates of the Church : 
Goodrich, Bishop of Ely; Shaxton, Bishop of 
Sarum; Latimer, Bishop of Worcester; Eox, 
Bishop of Hereford ; Hilsey, Bishop of Roch- 
ester; and Barlow, Bishop of St. David's. 
Like himself, all these were in favor of a return 
to the purer practice and doctrine of primitive 
times. Although Lee was the Archbishop of 
York, and had precedence, yet the Roman 
party in opposition rallied under the leader- 
ship of the stern, astute, and aggressive Gard- 
iner, Bishop of Winchester ; Stokesly, Bishop 
of London ; Tonstal, Bishop of Durham ; 



Beginnings 31 



Ivongland, Bishop of Lincoln; Sherburn, 
Bishop of Chichester; and Kite, Bishop of 
Carlisle. Under these parties was the Church 
of England divided, the Reform and the Ro- 
man, each party struggling for the suprem- 
acy; the former seeking to clean the Ark of 
God of the accretions that had accumulated 
about her in her voyage through the centuries ; 
the latter viewing every such attempt as a 
sacrilegious innovation instigated by the 
powers of darkness, and having for its ulterior 
purpose the destruction of the Church and 
the faith of the ages. Between the two Henry 
mediated as umpire; but behind them all were 
the people, strong in their sympathies with 
the king, inclined to Reform, but conservative 
in action, and depending less on themselves 
than on the initiative from those in authority. 
A strong current, however, was setting in 
from the Continent, where the Reformation 
had made great progress ; books on every sub- 
ject, nearly, of theology were being brought 
over, and all parties felt themselves carried 
forward by the spirit of the time. 

The year 1534 was a momentous one. The 
law relating to the jurisdiction of the pope, 
which Convocation had agreed to, but which 
was enforced or ignored at the pleasure of the 



32 History of the Ritual 

king, became a fact, and the papal supremacy 
in England was completely abolished. By 
Statute 26, Henry VIII, the king was de- 
clared the supreme head of the Church in 
England, without any qualifying clause, with 
full power for the reformation and correction 
of all heresies and abuses which could be 
amended by any spiritual authority whatso- 
ever. 1 An Act relating to Annates, which 
was more thorough than a similar Act of two 
years previous, forbade payments to Rome 
for any purpose, thus cutting off all revenue 
from England to the pope. An Act of Sub- 
mission, based on a previous submission of 
the clergy when the whole body by recog- 
nizing the legative powers of Wolsey had in- 
curred, by the arbitrary will of the king, the 
penalties of the statute of praemunire, was also 
passed. In this Act the clergy, acknowledg- 
ing that all Convocations ought to be con- 
vened by the king's writ, give promise in 
verbo sacerdotii not to promulgate any new 
Canons, Constitutions, or Ordinances, pro- 
vincial or synodial, without royal authority. 
The Archbishop of Canterbury ordered that 
in all formal documents the word "Metropoli- 



1 Collier, "Keel. Hist.," Vol. IV, p. 248. Carwithen's 
" Hist, of the Church of England," Vol. I, p. 112. 



Beginnings 33 



tanus" should be used instead of the ancient 
title, "Apostolicce sedis legatus," for he was no 
longer legate of the pope. Various other Acts 
were passed readjusting the Church in her 
new relation to the State, and Cranmer, as 
Primate of the Church, was not slow, though 
greatly opposed by the Roman party, to seize 
the opportunity to advance the interests of 
the Reform cause, which the aggressive policy 
of Parliament afforded. Therefore, under the 
inspiration of the Archbishop, Convocation 
petitioned that "His Majesty would vouchsafe 
to decree that the Scriptures should be trans- 
lated into the vulgar tongue by some honest 
and learned men, to be nominated by the king, 
and to be delivered unto the people according 
to their learning." 1 

As was doubtless expected by the friends 
of Reform, this petition excited the apprehen- 
sions of the Romanists, and led to a lengthy 
debate. Gladly would the misguided bishops 
of the Roman party have consigned all the 
Bibles that were in the hands of reformers in 
Germany and Switzerland to the flames, in 
order to prevent them coming into England, 
for the more Bibles there were among the 
people the less grew the authority of the 

1 Strype's " Cranmer," Vol. I, p. 34. 
3 



34 History of the Ritual 

Church. Tyndale's "New Testament," which 
was the first printed edition of any portion of 
the Scriptures in English, had previously been 
published, but copies of it were very rare. As 
a matter of precaution the work was printed 
on the Continent ; but Tonstal, Bishop of Lon- 
don, bought up through an agent the entire 
edition and burned it. The sale of the book, 
however, in such quantities enabled Tyndale 
to publish a better translation, and this was 
quickly in the hands of the printers ; but both 
the book and the venders of it were con- 
demned by decree. Tyndale himself, at the 
instigation of Henry VIII, was imprisoned in 
1 53 1, and after a long confinement he was 
finally strangled (1536) at Villefont, near 
Brussels, and his body reduced to ashes. 1 But 
a change had now at length come over affairs 
in the Church of England. A translation of 
the Holy Scriptures which would be free from 
the blemishes and heresies of Tyndale's New 
Testament, which we may note were not in 
the text, but in side-notes, comments, and 
prefaces, was strenuously insisted upon by the 
Reform leaders. The question was a serious 
one, of vast importance in its consequences, 



*See the whole story in Soame's " Henry VIII, History 
of the Reformation." 



Beginnings 35 



and the demand was not easily obtained. The 
Roman prelates, led by Gardiner, objected to 
the general diffusion of the Scriptures on the 
ground that to give the whole Bible in English 
to the people would endanger the peace of the 
Church and the kingdom. The excesses of 
the peasants in Germany, who interpreted the 
Bible as their fancies suggested or their incli- 
nations led them, afforded illustrations appar- 
ently pertinent to the subject, and it was not 
difficult, with the aid of a lively imagination, 
to paint in lurid colors the fearful conse- 
quences of giving the Bible to the people in 
the vulgar tongue. The prelates therefore pro- 
posed, as a compromise doubtless, that instead 
of the Scriptures a short exposition of the 
Christian faith should be put into common use. 
This proposition was not acceptable to the 
Reform party, and the debate went on. Gardi- 
ner did his best in defense of the stand he had 
taken, and so determined was the opposition 
he aroused, that had it not been understood 
that Cranmer and his supporters expressed 
the wishes of the king, the demand of the Re- 
formers would have been rejected. But the 
will of the king was supreme; Convocation 
petitioned in due form, and the translation of 
the Scriptures was ordered. 



36 History of the Ritual 

The Bible now authorized was Tyndale's 
Bible, revised and corrected by Cranmer; 1 
but since Tyndale had been executed for 
heresy his name was omitted from the title- 
page, and the book was known as Thomas 
Matthews's Bible, or Cranmer's Bible. This 
work was printed at Paris, because of better 
facilities there, in 1548. Henry, however, was 
not inclined to go too far in his religious zeal, 
and he would only allow copies of it to be 
fastened by chains in certain churches, at the 
same time issuing a proclamation to the peo- 
ple "that his indulgence was not the effect of 
his duty, but of his goodness and his liberality 
to them, who should therefore use it moder- 
ately for the increase of virtue, not of strife." 2 
He also commanded that the Bible should not 
be read so as to disturb the priest during the 
mass, and that no one should attempt to ex- 
pound doubtful passages without the assist- 
ance of the learned. 

A stormy year was 1536. The ferment of 
agitation had permeated the kingdom. The 
leaven of Reformation had affected the masses, 
and everywhere the doctrines and rites and 



iBut see Dr. Price's "History of Nonconformity," Vol. 
I, p. 49- 

8 Hume, " History of England." 



Beginnings 37 



ceremonies and traditions of Romanism were 
subjects of dispute and even of ridicule. It 
was scornfully asked if the wafer in the sacra- 
ment was anything else than a piece of bread 
or "a pretty round robin." Extreme unction 
was denied to be a sacrament; and it was af- 
firmed that all Church ceremonies not ex- 
pressly warranted by Scripture were human 
inventions, and for that reason should be laid 
aside. Monastic institutions, it was said, were 
a plain contradiction to the Christian religion ; 
that priests ought to marry ; that no reverence 
should be shown to the images of the saints ; 
that the tonsure of the priests was a mark of 
the whore of Babylon ; that the stole about the 
priest's neck was the Bishop of Rome's rope, 
and that the holy oil used in consecration was 
no better than the grease or butter in the 
pope's kitchen. The mass, the practice of 
confession, purgatory, veneration of the Vir- 
gin Mary, excommunicating powers of bish- 
ops, priests, ordinaries, or ecclesiastical judges, 
were all attacked. Every doctrine peculiar to 
the Roman Church was made the subject of 
debate. Reformation principles and many 
others for which clear-headed preachers of the 
gospel would not be responsible, clashed with 
the teachings of Rome in every town in the 



38 History of the Ritual 

kingdom. The conflict was carried into the 
pulpits, and what was declared by one party 
to be the teaching of the Church, was declared 
by the other to be contrary to Scripture. 
Such was the situation when the clergy of 
England assembled this year to legislate for 
the Church. 

On the 9th of June, Convocation convened 
in old St. Paul's Church. By appointment of 
Cranmer, Bishop Latimer preached. He was 
the most celebrated preacher of his time, hated 
by the Roman party for the same reason that 
he was loved and reverenced by the friends of 
Reform. Such was the enmity of Romanists 
toward this champion of the Reformation that, 
were it pleasing to the king, the majority of 
the Convocation sitting there in the aisles of 
St. Paul's that morning would have gladly 
consigned the preacher to the flames as a de- 
testable heretic. But he was there for a pur- 
pose. The solemn introductory service being 
ended, Latimer mounted the pulpit. He took 
for his text, "The children of this world are 
wiser in their generation than the children of 
light." The sermon 1 was a strong, searching 
indictment of the supineness of the clergy, of 
superstition, and of papal abuses. His words 

1 Sermons by Bishop Latimer, pp. 33-57. Parker Soc. 



Beginnings 39 



were simple, throbbing with vital energy, and 
must have gone, every one of them, to the 
hearts of the bishops and abbots and other 
clericals before him, like a stone from a cata- 
pult. "The end of your Convocation," said 
he, "shall show what ye have done; the fruit 
that shall come of your consultation shall show 
what generation ye be of. For what have ye 
done hitherto, I pray you, these seven years 
and more? What have ye engendered? What 
have ye brought forth? What fruit is come 
of your long and great assembly? What one 
thing that the people of England hath been 
the better of a hair, or you yourselves either 
more accepted before God or better dis- 
charged toward the people committed unto 
your cure? For that the people are better 
learned and taught now than they were in 
time past, to whether of these ought we to 
attribute it, to your industry, or to the provi- 
dence of God and the foreseeing of the king's 
grace ?" 

The sermon produced great commotion; 
but no reply was made to it till the 23d of 
June. Then, on the occasion of a collection 
of abuses that needed amending having been 
sent up by the Lower House to the Upper 
House of Convocation, the debate began. 



40 History of the Ritual 

Cranmer and Stokesly represented the oppos- 
ing elements. Agreement on doctrine was 
apparently impossible, and prolonged contro- 
versy — for neither side would or could yield 
to the other — only served to embitter the com- 
batants. Finally, the king, who had tried his 
theological skill with little real credit to him- 
self in his reply to Luther some years previ- 
ously, laid before Convocation for adoption 
Six Articles of Faith of his own devising. 1 In 
these articles the Scriptures and the three an- 
cient creeds — the Nicene, the Apostles', and 
the Athanasian — were made the standards of 
faith, there being no mention of tradition or 
decrees of popes or Councils; the doctrine of 
justification by faith was fairly well stated; 
three sacraments out of seven were retained, 
purgatory left in doubt, and transubstanti- 
ation, confession, saint-worship affirmed. The 
articles were signed by the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, seventeen bishops, forty abbots 
and priors, and fifty archdeacons and proctors 
of the Lower House of Convocation, and pub- 
lished by the king's authority, with a Preface 
requiring all his subjects to accept them, in 
order that he might be encouraged to make 

In this compare Froude, "History of England," and 
Hardwick, " History of the Articles." 



Beginnings 41 



further advancement in matters pertaining to 
the religious welfare of the kingdom. 

Rome now saw clearly the drift of events, 
and employed all her methods to arrest the 
progress of the Reformation. The clergy 
were stirred to opposition, the people to re- 
bellion, and when all hopes vanished a bull of 
excommunication was issued against the king 
and the whole nation. Henry answered by 
abolishing monasteries, and transferring their 
revenues to the crown or to the nobility, and 
by executing several eminent Romanists and 
many abbots and priests as traitors. Injunc- 
tions were also sent to the bishops requiring 
the clergy to preach to the people that the 
Bishop of Rome's power had no foundation 
in Scripture, that pilgrimages should cease, 
that parents should teach their children the 
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Com- 
mandments in English. 

The progress of the Reformation at this 
time arrested the attention of the Reformers 
in Germany and Switzerland. Bucer, one of 
the noted and learned divines at Strasburg, 
wrote to Cranmer commending his zeal, and 
urging him to proceed still farther, which cor- 
respondence resulted in the bringing into 
England, a few years later, many eminent 



42 History of the Ritual 

scholars and theologians from the Continent 
to aid in the work of reform by filling im- 
portant chairs at Oxford and Cambridge. 

The next year, 1537, Henry VIII ap- 
pointed a Commission to set forth a plain 
exposition of Christian doctrine. The Com- 
mission was a mild one, composed of repre- 
sentatives of the Reformed and Roman par- 
ties — Cranmer, Stokesly, Gardiner, Sampson, 
Repps, Goodrich, Latimer, Shaxton, Fox, 
and Barlow, and several divines. The re- 
sult of their labors was the compilation 
entitled, "The Godly and Pious Institution 
of a Christian Man;" but because of its 
authorship it was commonly known as the 
"Bishops' Book." The contents of this 
book were in some respects favorable to 
Reform views, which indicates the advance 
those views had made among the hierarchy; 
but the Roman teaching on the Lord's Sup- 
per, that piccolo note ever sounding high and 
shrill above all other notes amid the crash and 
din of theological controversy in this and suc- 
ceeding reigns, and the errors relating to 
purgatory as formerly taught, gave some com- 
fort to the Romanists. What is remarkable, 
however, in this book composed by such re- 
sponsible dignitaries is, that it maintains but 



Beginnings 43 



two orders in the Christian ministry. "In the 
New Testament" it declares, "there is no men- 
tion made of any degrees or orders, but only of 
deacons {or ministers) and of priests {or bish- 
ops)" * The book was signed by the arch- 
bishops, nineteen bishops, eight archdeacons, 
and seventeen Doctors of Theology and Civil 
Law, and was adopted by Convocation. 

Here Henry VIII came to a standstill. He 
would proceed no farther. Through the mis- 
erable fall of Anne Boleyn, who had favored 
the friends of Reform, Cranmer lost influence 
with the king, and the Roman party, under 
Gardiner, were coming to the ascendency. 
But the people, particularly in London, did 
not retreat. The momentum of the new era, 
the impulse to make thorough work of the 
form of religion, which was, in their belief, 
steeped in superstition, cheatings, and false- 
hoods, constantly grew stronger. Letters 
written at this time reveal, as no other sources 
can, the popular revulsion of feeling against 
monks and priests, and against the worship of 
saints, brought about by the exposure of the 
tricks practiced by means of ropes and pulleys, 
"so that," says one of these letters, "the igno- 

1 See "The Historic Episcopate, A Study of Anglican 
Claims," etc. By R. J. Cooke. Methodist Book Concern, New 
York. 



44 History of the Ritual 

rant people now call them mere conjurers, 
and despise their contrivances, objecting to 
the deceits they practiced against them as 
long as the tower of Babel was safe, which, 
being now undermined, is daily threatening 
an overthrow." * 

Another, referring to the demolishing of 
images and the indignation of the people be- 
cause of the gross frauds that had been per- 
petrated in the name of religion, writes : "For 
the trickery of the wicked knaves was so pub- 
licly exposed in the image of the crucifix, that 
every one was indignant against the monks 
and impostors of that kind, and execrated both 
the idols and those who worshiped them." 2 

The current that was carrying the nation 
forward left Henry in the background. His 
queen, Jane Seymour, for whom he showed 
some affection, and who was friendly to the 
Reformers, died in childbed; secondly, the 
German princes offended his pride because, on 
account of his adherence to the doctrine of 



1 " Original Letters Relative to the English Reformation," 
Second Portion, p. 608, Parker Soc. 

2 "Original Letters," p. 168. See Burnet I, 390; II, 199- 
Soame's "History of Reformation," II, 264. Ellis's "Orig- 
inal Letters," Third Series, III, 168. Henry VIII, in the 
second year of his reign, walked ten miles, barefooted, to 
adorn one of these images with a valuable necklace. Bishop 
Hilsey, of Rochester, exposed many contrivances in the 
presence of the people at St. Paul's Cross, and Latimer threw 
some little images out of St. Paul's to the crowds outside. 



Beginnings 45 



transubstantiation, they refused to put him 
at the head of the Protestant League; and, 
thirdly, which cooled his ardor perhaps more 
than any other event, Cranmer and his col- 
leagues stoutly resisted in Parliament his ap- 
propriation of confiscated monasteries to his 
own use. Cranmer had no desire to see the 
Church robbed for the sake of Henry's cour- 
tiers. However, the hope which Martin Bucer 
expressed in a letter to Archbishop Cranmer, 
dated at Strasburg, October 29, 1539, that the 
king would "persist in his opposition to the 
pope, and . . . that he will continue our 
friend," was not destined to be wholly ground- 
less. The way was being paved for the use 
of the services of the Church in English, so 
that when the Liturgy and the Ritual in the 
next reign were given to the people in their 
own tongue, it was done with less shock to 
the conservative element of the nation than it 
would have otherwise given. 

On June 11, 1544, Henry VIII, on his de- 
parture for Calais, addressed a letter to the 
archbishop, commanding him to prepare cer- 
tain prayers and a litany in English. "This," 
says Stephens, 1 "was the first authoritative act 



1,1 Book of C. P. According to the Sealed Book." A.J. 
Stephens, Ecclesiastical History Society. 



46 History of the Ritual 

towards the introduction of the English lan- 
guage into the public services of the Church." 
The title of the book was, "An Exhortation 
unto Prayer, thoughte mete by the Kinge's 
Majesty and his Clergy, to be read to the 
People in every Church afore processyons. 
Also a Letanie with suffrages to be said or 
sung in the tyme of the said processyons." 
The book was published in the fall, Cranmer 
writing to the king, October 7th, "that the 
worke was finished." * 

The king, however, still remained fixed in 
his determination to go no farther than merely 
to Anglicize the Roman Church in his domin- 
ions ; and for those, as for instance John Lam- 
bert, who denied the corporal presence of 
Christ in the sacrament of the altar, he had 
no mercy. On the whole, the Reformation 
lagged or went backward. Hooper, after- 
wards one of Edward VI's bishops, in a letter 
written about this time, 1546, to Bullinger, 
describing the condition of affairs, says : "Our 
king has destroyed the pope, but not popery. 
. . . The impious mass, the most shameful 
celibacy of the clergy, the invocation of saints, 
auricular confession, superstitious abstinence 



iCranmer's Letter to Henry VIII, " Cranmer's Remains 
and Letters," p. 412. Parker Soc. 



Beginnings 47 



from meats, and purgatory, were never before 
held by the people in greater esteem than at 
the present moment." * 

But all things have an end. The king 
gradually grew more irritable and furious as 
the ulcer in his leg increased, his corpulency 2 
adding to his discomfort, and on January 28, 
1547, he breathed his last. 

Henry was a pioneer of the Reformation. 
His work was mainly political and social. But 
the ecclesiastical reforms he inaugurated broke 
the power of Rome in England. It never was 
the same again, and a summary of the work 
he accomplished, whatever his motives may 
have been — and for these the principles of the 
Reformation were not responsible — will show 
that the ground was plowed deep for the 
sowing which followed. He prohibited all 
sums of money leaving the kingdom for the 
pope's treasury in payment of ecclesiastical 
fees ; he abolished pluralities of livings and the 
holding of English Sees by foreign prelates; 
he prohibited appeals to Rome in matters ec- 
clesiastical and temporal ; he braved the thun- 
ders of the Vatican in abolishing the suprem- 



1 " Zurich Letters," Vol. I, p. 33. 

a His suit of mail, which I saw, was the largest of all the 
suits in the Tower of London. 



48 History of the Ritual 

acy of the pope in the Church of England; 
gave the Bible to the people ; opened the way 
for the service of God being understood in the 
common language; lifted from the imagina- 
tions of men the awful dread of sacerdotal 
power, which had paralyzed their efforts to 
pierce through the incubus of superstition 
and tradition that shadowed the soul; and 
consciously, or unconsciously, as the instru- 
ment of Providence he prepared the way for 
the freedom of the Church from the bondage 
of centuries to the papal throne and the papal 
teaching. 



Chapter II 

FORMATION 

Edward VI, A. D. 1547 — Queen Mary, A. D. 1553 

On the death of Henry VIII, his son, by 
Jane Seymour, ascended the throne, under 
the title of Edward VI. During the short 
reign of this young prince, who, by the will 
of the late king, governed through a Council 
named in the will, the Reformation made 
rapid progress. The advance was wholly in 
a reformation or restatement of doctrine; for 
the Acts of Parliament and Convocation under 
Henry VIII show that the separation from 
Roman jurisdiction had been already com- 
pleted a year before the death of that king. 
At the head of the Council stood as Lord Pro- 
tector the young king's uncle, the Duke of 
Somerset, a decided friend of the Reforma- 
tion, and Cranmer, the Primate of the Church. 
Religiously, the kingdom was in a disturbed 
state. Controversies agitated the people; 
churches were visited, and the images pulled 
down and broken; certain rites and cere- 
4 49 



50 History of the Ritual 

monies were ridiculed and openly profaned; 
traveling preachers, infected with Anabaptist 
notions and heresies, proclaimed with con- 
tagious warmth their doctrines to multitudes 
as the infallible teachings of the Gospels ; and, 
to make bad worse, the clergy, as a rule, were 
too ignorant to instruct the people or to 
guide them intelligently in their struggles for 
reform. 

To correct these evils, Cranmer and the 
reforming bishops appointed a visitation of 
the Churches. Eminent preachers accom- 
panied the visitors, and others well versed in 
Christian doctrine prepared sermons for the 
incumbents, in order that the people might 
be properly instructed in the principles of re- 
ligion, and all hear from the pulpit the same 
teaching. It was ordered that a Paraphrase 
of Erasmus on the Gospels and Acts of the 
Apostles should be set up in the churches with 
the Bible, 1 and should be studied by the 
clergy. The injunctions issued by the Council 
for these things ordered also that one chapter 
of the New Testament should be read at 
matins, and one from the Old Testament at 
evensong, on every Sunday and holy day, and 
which is to be carefully noted, it was ordered 

l Cardwell, " Documentary Annals," II, Sec. 7, 20, 32. 



Formation 51 



that the Epistle and Gospel read at high mass 
should be in English. 1 

While the Parliament which gave authority 
for the foregoing was in session — 1547 — Con- 
vocation turned its attention to reform in 
Church service. Among other far-reaching 
requests of an ecclesiastical character, the 
Lower House, on the recommendation of the 
archbishop, petitioned Parliament, by unani- 
mous agreement, 2 that the communion should 
be administered in both kinds, and that, ac- 
cording to the intention of the late king, 3 the 
public service of the Church should be re- 
formed. In conformity with this request of 
the clergy, Parliament enacted that the holy 
communion should be administered in both 
kinds, such mode of receiving "being more 
agreeable to the first institution of the said 
sacrament of the most precious body and 
blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, and also 
more conformable to the common use and 



1 Cardwell, "Documentary Annals," Sec. 2, shows how 
room was made in the service for this. 

2 Strype, "Cranmer," II, 4, says, "All this session (Ses- 
sion VI, Dec. 2), by their mouths did approve the proposition 
made the last session (Nov. 22) of taking the Lord's body 
in both kinds nullo reclamante." 

3 In 1546, shortly before his death, Henry VIII commanded 
Cranmer ' ' to pen a form for the alteration of the mass into a 
communion." Strype' s "Cranmer," I, 311. Ecclesiastical 
Historical Society. 



52 History of the Ritual 

practice, both of the apostles and the primi- 
tive Church, by the space of five hundred 
years and more after Christ's ascension, than 
the receiving under the form of bread only." 

With regard to the offices of the Church, 
which also came in for consideration, a com- 
mittee, consisting of the two Archbishops, 
Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, 
Durham, Worcester, Norwich, St. Asaph, 
Salisbury, Coventry, Carlisle, Bristol, St. 
David's, Ely, Lincoln, Chichester, Hereford, 
Westminster, and Rochester, together with 
Doctors Cox, May, Taylor, Haynes, Robert- 
son, and Redmayn, was appointed to draw up 
an order or form for administering the Eu- 
charist in the English tongue. 1 The com- 
mittee met at Windsor, January, 1548. 

In order that this subject, about which 
there was so much contention, both in Eng- 
land and on the Continent, might be thor- 
oughly studied, it was divided into questions, 
to which an answer was required from each 
one on the Commission. The battle between 
the clerical parties for supremacy in England 
was now on. To the question, which went 
straight to the heart of the Roman doctrine, 



1 Burnet, "History Reformation," Part II, in loco. Also 
" Records," No. 25. 



Formation 53 



''What is the oblation and sacrifice of Christ 
in the mass?" the Romanists unanimously 
agreed that it was the presentation of the very- 
body and blood of Christ really present in the 
sacrament. The Reformers were not so uni- 
form in their statement, though one in senti- 
ment. Cranmer declared that "the oblation 
and sacrifice of Christ in the mass is not so 
called because Christ indeed is there offered 
and sacrificed by the priest and the people; 
but it is so called because it is a memory and 
representation of that very true sacrifice and 
immolation which before was made upon 
the cross." 1 In like form the Bishops of Lin- 
coln, St. David's, and Rochester expressed 
their opinions. But Doctors Taylor and Cox 
went beyond the archbishop. They answered 
that the oblation of Christ in the Holy Eucha- 
rist was nothing more than the prayer and 
thanksgiving in remembrance of Christ's pas- 
sion and death. It was evident that upon this 
subject, as upon many others, the Commis- 
sion could come to no agreement. The times 
were not yet ripe for an abrupt abolishment 
of the service which had been used for cen- 
turies, nor for the condemnation of the doc- 
trine underlying the service, and upon which 

Gurnet, " Records," 25, Part II, Book II. 



54 History of the Ritual 

so many believed their eternal salvation rested. 
It was therefore agreed that the chief part of 
the worship or service of the mass should be 
retained, but that such additions should be 
made to it as would change it to a com- 
munion. 

The form settled upon was next submitted 
to the Privy Council, then ratified by both 
Houses of Parliament, and published March 
8, 1548, under the title, The Order of the 
Communion. This form is of peculiar inter- 
est to the Methodist student, for in it he will 
see for the first time in English the beginnings 
of much of the service now in his Ritual for 
the administration of the Lord's Supper. 

The Order commenced with an address to 
be read to the people the Sunday or other day 
before the day for the sacrament. The com- 
munion service itself began with an exhorta- 
tion to consider what St. Paul wrote to the 
Corinthians to examine themselves, etc. 

" Then the priest shall say to them which be ready 
to take the sacrament: If any man here be an open 
blasphemer, an advouterer, in malice or envy, etc. 

"Here the priest shall pause awhile, to see if any 
man will withdraw himself: and if etc., etc. . . . 
and after a little pause, the priest shall say : You that 
do truly and earnestly repent of your sins and 
offenses committed against Almighty God, and are 



Formation 55 



in love and charity with your neighbors, and intend 
to lead a new life, and heartily to follow the com- 
mandments of God, and to walk from henceforth in 
his holy ways, draw near, and take this holy sacra- 
ment to your comfort, make your humble confession 
to Almighty God, and to his holy Church, here gath- 
ered together in his name, meekly kneeling upon 
your knees. 

" Then shall a general confession be made in the 
name of all those that are minded to receive the holy 
communion, either by one of them, or else by one of the 
ministers, or by the priest himself, all kneeling humbly 
upon their knees : Almighty God, Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men, 
we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and 
wickedness which we from time to time most griev- 
ously have committed by thought, word, and deed 
against thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly 
thy wrath and indignation against us: we do ear- 
nestly repent, and be heartily sorry, for these our 
misdoings: the remembrance of them is grievous 
unto us, the burthen of them is intolerable. Have 
mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, Most Merciful 
Father, for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake : for- 
give us all that is past, and grant that we may ever 
hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life to 
the honor and glory of thy name, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. 1 

" Then shall the priest stand up, and turning him 
to the people, say thus : Our blessed Lord, who hath 
left power to his Church to absolve penitent sinners 



1 For the origin of this and other prayers, see the Com- 
mentary, page 236. 



56 History of the Ritual 

from their sins, and to restore to the grace of the 
Heavenly Father such as truly believe in Christ, 
have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from 
all sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, 
and bring you to everlasting life." 1 

Following this the minister repeated what 
is known as the "Comfortable Words," so- 
called from the rubric, "Hear what comfortable 
words our Savior Christ saith to all that truly 
turn to him" which consisted of texts of 
Scripture. Then he repeated: 

" Hear also what Saint John saith : * If any man sin 
we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
the righteous ;' he it is that obtained grace for our 
sins. 

" Then shall the priest kneel down, and say, in the 
name of all them that shall receive the communion, this 
prayer following : We do not presume to come to 
this, thy table (O merciful Lord), trusting in our own 
righteousness, etc., 

the remainder being nearly the same as that 
which is now used. 

" Then shall the priest rise, the people still rever- 
ently kneeling, and the priest shall deliver the com- 
munion, first to the ministers, if there be any present, 
that they may be ready to help the priest, and after to 
the other. And when he doth deliver the sacrament of 



1 The reader will observe that this absolution is retained, 
in a supplicatory form, in the Ritual. 



Formation 57 



the body of Christ, he shall say to every one these 
words following: The body of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body 
unto everlasting life. 

"And the priest ', delivering the sacrament of the 
blood, and giving every one to drink once, and no more, 
shall say: The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which was shed for thee, preserve thy soul unto 
everlasting life. 

The Order concludes with the Apostolic 
Benediction. 1 

On the 13th of March the king issued a 
proclamation in which the people are com- 
manded to conform to this Order, in order 
that the king may be encouraged to proceed 
with the Reformation, and "to the setting 
forth of such godly orders as may be best to 
God's glory, the edifying of our subjects, and 
for the advancement of true religion/' 2 
Throughout the kingdom generally the Order 
was for a time well received; but the Roman 
bishops— Gardiner of Winchester, who re- 
sisted every change in the old religion; Bon- 
ner of London, Vayesie of Exeter, and Samp- 
son of Litchfield and Coventry — showed no 
disposition to comply with the proclamation. 



» " Liturgies, King Kdward VI." Parker Soc. 
2 Bishop Sparrow's " Collections." Stephens's " Book of 
C. P.," xxxviii. 



58 History of the Ritual 

By their influence much dissatisfaction was 
generated among the clergy and the more 
ignorant people, who at all times seem to have 
the faculty of morbidly dreading what they 
do not understand. Gardiner was thrown into 
prison. But the summary measures adopted 
against him only added fuel to the fire. Ex- 
citement swept men from their moorings. 
Discussions and dissensions over doctrinal 
questions and the authority of the Council to 
formulate matters of religion during the mi- 
nority of the king became portentously preva- 
lent. Rebellion was in the air. Ceremonies 
were scantily observed or contemptuously ig- 
nored. Confusion in forms of worship ended 
in chaos; irreverence for all godly things 
alarmingly increased, and to such lengths did 
religious animosities go that the sacrament 
was often profaned or scoffed at, and some- 
times thrown out into the street. 1 

To remedy the situation a proclamation 
was issued, and to carry out their original de- 
sign the king and Privy Council now resolved 
upon the preparation of a Liturgical Service 
for the Church of England. The "Order for 
Communion" had been authorized by the 
Privy Council, the king being under age, and 

1 Collier, "Ecclesiastical History, Vol. V, p. 262. 



Formation 59 



for that reason it had been regarded by many 
as lacking in authority. Therefore, it was now 
judged that a public Liturgy composed by the 
most learned and godly men holding episco- 
pal and other office in the kingdom, and con- 
firmed by Parliament, would meet with gen- 
eral acceptance. The benefit to be derived 
was uniformity of worship. The Commission 
which devised the Order of Communion was 
summoned for this purpose. Edward VI in- 
formed them of the general nature of the de- 
sired book, and suggested that it should com- 
prise "An Order for Morning and Evening 
Prayer," and also a "Form of Ministering the 
Sacraments, and for Celebrating all other 
Public Offices/' 

At this time in England there were several 
liturgical forms in use. The Churches in the 
south, for instance, generally followed the Lit- 
urgy used in the Cathedral of Salisbury, which 
was known as the Sarum Rite; in the north 
they followed the Form of York; while the 
dioceses in the Midlands adopted that em- 
ployed in the Cathedral of Lincoln. In Wales 
the Liturgic books used at St. David's were 
used throughout the south, and in the north 
the form prescribed by Bangor. In addition 
to these, almost every diocese had a form of 



60 History of the Ritual 

its own, differing in some more or less im- 
portant particular from every other form, so 
that there was but little uniformity in the pub- 
lic worship. Moreover, these Liturgies were 
all in Latin. Few, outside the clergy, under- 
stood this language, and so complicated were 
the ceremonies that none but the specially- 
trained priest could either follow them or un- 
derstand them. The mazes of Divine worship 
were bewildering in their intricacies, and to 
the degree that they were unintelligible to the 
people were they utterly useless. Further, in 
these Service-books, Missals, Breviaries, Pon- 
tificals, Antiphonals, Rituals, and Hours were 
concentrated the essence of Roman teaching 
and all the superstitious suggestions of rever- 
ence for things and persons which obscured 
the real object of worship and ministered little 
to genuine edification. 

All these books were now to be superseded, 
and one Book of Prayer and Ritual was to be 
prepared in English for the whole Church in 
England. For this purpose the Committee 
examined all the Liturgies in use, that what- 
soever was of value and in harmony with 
Scripture might be retained. Nor did they 
confine themselves to these Liturgies only. 
The desire of the Reformers, as they often 



Formation 61 



declared, was to reform and not deform, to 
improve and not destroy, and in this desire it 
will be seen they were very far from under- 
estimating the moral force of antiquity, or of 
undervaluing through ignorance, love of nov- 
elty, or unreasoning prejudice, the various 
forms of worship employed in the primitive 
Church, and hallowed by the sanction and de- 
votion of ages. They compared the Liturgies 
known as the Liturgy of St. James, Bishop of 
Jerusalem, St. Mark, Alexandria, that of St. 
Basil, Chrysostom, Clement, the Mozarabic, 
the Ephesine or Gallican, all of which were 
older than the Roman missal. It will be seen, 
therefore, that the Prayer-book and Ordinal 
of the Church of England, from which the 
Ritual of the Methodist Episcopal Church is 
derived, did not originate wholly in the Ro- 
man Ordinal, but was compiled from services 
of the primitive Church, some parts of it being 
handed down from the earliest times. The 
tabular view on page 62 will show the origin 
of the Rituals or Liturgies now in use in the 
communion service. 1 



1 According to Blunt "Annot. B. C. P." For an account 
of these liturgies see Collier " Eccl. Hist. ;" Palmer, " Origine 
Liturgica;" Bingham, "Antiquities;" Maskel, " Monumenta 
Ritualia ;" Freeman, " Principles of Divine Service," " Rites 
and Ritual;" Maskel, "Ancient I<iturgy of the Church of 
England." 



62 



History of the Ritual 



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Formation 63 



These ancient Liturgies were examined, 
and also the books in use by the Reformed 
Churches elsewhere. It may be helpful to 
state at this stage that these Liturgies required 
the officiating minister to be clothed in a cer- 
tain dress, considered by the force of custom 
appropriate to the service, and undoubtedly 
the use of vestments is of venerable antiquity, 
though, of course, we do not read of such 
things in the New Testament. The dress of 
Christian ministers in the Apostolic Age was 
the same as that worn in every-day life. The 
fashions of dress changed in time ; but the dress 
of the ministers remained the same, as in our 
own day we see ministers wearing a fashion 
of coat or vest that belongs to the eighteenth 
century. Gradually the clerical dress became 
recognized as a distinctive dress, and was used 
only in divine service. Thus by degrees were 
developed ecclesiastical vestments and their 
use in the Christian Church. At the period 
of the Reformation such was the superstitious 
veneration attached to these priestly habits by 
reason of their association with all things per- 
taining to the priesthood, and such was the 
abuse of their purposes, that the Commission 
compiling the service long debated their re- 
tention in the new Liturgy. Many reasons 



64 History of the Ritual 

were offered for their utter rejection, which 
were replied to by as many arguments for 
their continuance, and it was finally agreed 
that some vestments should be retained for 
the sake of propriety and as a concession to 
weak consciences. 1 

The new Liturgy was now ready. The 
Communion Service, which had been pub- 
lished the year preceding, was retained with 
some slight alterations. The conflicts of the 
times are reflected in the inconsistent service, 
for in it there are undoubtedly traces of an 
effort toward compromise between the views 
of the Reformers and the doctrine of the Ro- 
manists on the corporal presence of Christ 
in the holy sacrament. 

The communion began with the Lord's 
Prayer, followed by the Collect, or Prayer for 
Purity, "Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are 
open and all desires known" etc., after which 
there was said, or sung, a psalm, the Introit, 
as the minister entered the chancel. Then, 
according to the Rubric, "The priest, standing 
at God's board, shall begin, Glory be to God on 
high," etc., to which the clerks respond, "And 
in earth peace, good-will towards men, we 



!See better by Martin Bucer, " Original fetters," p. 534. 
Also by Dryander, fetter 171. 



Formation 65 



praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we 
glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy 
great glory, O Lord God, Heavenly King," 
etc. Other Collects follow; then the Epistle 
and the Gospel for the day are read, succeeded 
by the Creed, which is sung. The Creed being 
ended, the homily or sermon is preached, the 
offertory of passages of Holy Scripture are 
said or sung while the contributions are being 
collected. 

" Then shall the minister take so much bread and 
wine as shall suffice for the persons appointed to re- 
ceive the holy communion, laying the bread upon the 
corporas, or else in the paten, or in some other comely 
thing prepared for that purpose ; and putting the wine 
into the chalice, or else in some fair or convenient cup 
prepared for that use {if the chalice will not serve), 
putting thereto a little pure and clean water, and set- 
ting both the bread and wine upon the altar. Then 
shall the priest say : The Lord be with you. 

u Ans. And with thy spirit. 

"Priest. Lift up your hearts," etc. 

The Trisagion is then sung by the clerks. 

"Therefore with angels and archangels and with 
all the holy company of heaven we laud and mag- 
nify thy glorious name evermore, praising thee and 
saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts : heaven 
and earth are full of thy glory : Osanah in the high- 
est. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord: Glory to thee, O Lord, in the highest," 
5 



66 History of the Ritual 

Prayer is then made for the whole state 
of Christ's Church, and this prayer glides into 
the Prayer of Consecration : * 

"O God, Heavenly Father, which of thy tender 
mercy didst give thine only Son, Jesus Christ, to 
suffer death upon the cross for our redemption, who 
made there (by his one oblation, once offered) a full, 
perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satis- 
faction for the sins of the whole world, and did in- 
stitute, and in his holy Gospel command us to cele- 
brate, a perpetual memory of that, his precious 
death, until his coming again : Hear us (O merciful 2 
Father), we beseech thee ; and with thy Holy Spirit 
and word vouchsafe to bl-f-ess and sanc+tify these, 
thy gifts, and creatures of bread and wine, that they 
may be unto us the body and blood of thy most 

Here the dearly-beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who 
taki e ti/&?ead in tlie same ni ght that he was betrayed 
into his hands, took bread, and when he had blessed 
and given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his dis- 
ciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my body which is 
given for you: do this in remembrance of me. 

Here the Likewise after supper he took the cup, 
'fateTh/cup 1 and when he had given thanks, he gave 
into his hands. it to theni) saying : Drink ye all of this, 
for this is my blood of the New Testament, which is 
shed for you and for many for remission of sins : 
Do this as oft as ye shall drink it in remembrance 
of me." 



1 See Methodist Episcopal Ritual. 

2 Also in the Scotch liturgy. 



Formation 67 



Following this was the Oblation, which, 
beginning in the middle with the words, "And 
here we offer and present unto thee (O 
Lord)," with the exception of the petition, 
"And command these our prayers and suppli- 
cations, by the ministry of thy holy angels to 
be brought up into thy tabernacle before the 
sight of thy Divine Majesty," is the same as 
that in the Ritual. The Lord's Prayer was 
then said and responsive sentences, after which 
the minister, turning to those about to com- 
mune, shall say, "You that do truly and ear- 
nestly repent of your sins," etc. 

Then followed the General Confession as in 
the Ritual, 

The Absolution, 

The Comfortable Words, 

The Prayer of Humble Access, "We do not 
presume to come," etc. 

The Administration, with these words: 
"The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul 
unto everlasting life. 

"The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which 
was shed for thee, preserve thy body and soul 
unto everlasting life." 

Next to the Communion Service was the 
Litany, then the form for the administration 



68 History of the Ritual 

of baptism, confirmation, matrimony, and the 
burial of the dead. 

Thus was finished the first Prayer-book of 
Edward VI. It was the first Liturgy of the Re- 
formed Church of England. Notwithstanding 
its mixed character, which can be easily ac- 
counted for when the temper of the times is 
considered, and the desire of the Reformers 
to depart as little from the usages of the Uni- 
versal Church while they were feeling their 
way to surer ground, the book was a great 
victory for the Reformation. On the com- 
pletion of the Liturgy it was presented to the 
two Convocations of Canterbury and York, 
by the majority of which it was approved, and 
then submitted to Parliament, December 9, 

1548. The House of Commons gave immedi- 
ate assent ; but in the House of Lords it met 
with much opposition, the anti-reforming 
bishops and the Lords of Acres and Windsor, 
with the Earl of Derby, protesting. However, 
it passed the Upper House January 15th, was 
returned to the Commons, and then passed 
on the 2 1st, 1548-9, and it was enacted that 
the book should come into use in all the 
Churches June 9th following. 

The first edition was published March 7, 

1549, and other editions appeared in May, 



Formation 69 



June, and July. The work of the Commission, 
however, was not yet finished. The king had 
desired not only a prayer-book, but also a 
book for the offices of the Church. This does 
not appear to have been presented to Parlia- 
ment or Convocation with the Liturgy, and the 
supposition is that the Roman bishops, seeing 
clearly that the Reformers were determined 
to eliminate the priestly character from the 
ordination of ministers, doing away with all 
notions of sacrifice belonging to the Roman 
priesthood, would have nothing to do with 
the new form for ordinations. The Reform 
bishops, however, prosecuted their labors, and 
in a few months later the Ordinal was pub- 
lished under the title, "The Forme and 
Maner of Makyng and Consecratyng of 
Archbishoppes, Bishoppes, Priestes, and 
Deacons. 4to, 1549." This date has been 
disputed; 1 but this is the date on the book 
itself, a copy of which is in the British Mu- 
seum; and on the book, with facsimiles of 
title-page, published by the Parker Society. 



1 For instance, Bishop John F. Hurst, in an article in the 
American Journal of Theology, Vol. Ill, No. 4, misled, pos- 
sibly, by Dr. Clay's "Common Prayer," illustrated, Pref. 
XV, and Cardwell's Two Liturgies, says : " It is true that the 
Ordinal (not of 1549, as Cooke calls it, when no Ordinal 
existed, but the Ordinal of 1550, etc.)" See also Hurst's " His- 
tory of the Christian Church," Vol. II, p. 345. 



70 History of the Ritual 

Moreover, Lathbury says, 1 "During the same 
year the Ordinal was published in a separate 
form," and on page 26 of his valuable History 
he explains the reason for the mistake into 
which several writers have fallen : "In books 
published between the 1st of January and the 
25th of March a diversity of practice existed 
among printers in giving the date. For ex- 
ample, a book published at the commence- 
ment of March, 1549, might have been dated 

1548, because the ecclesiastical year did not 
begin till the 25th day of the month. . . . 
According to the ecclesiastical style, March, 

1549, would have been 1548. Hence arose 
the mistake about the first edition of the 
Prayer-book. It was imagined that the books 
with the date of March, 1549, were really pub- 
lished in 1550, nearly a year after the sup- 
posed first edition." This date which we have 
fixed upon is also sustained by contemporane- 
ous evidence. Francis Dryander, a professor 
of Greek at Cambridge, writing to Bullinger, 
conveys this information: "I hear also that a 
praiseworthy reformation has taken place in 
matters of religion. It has not yet seen the 
light, but its promulgation is daily expected." 
The letter from which this is taken is dated 

* " History of Bk. of C. P.," p. 29. 



Formation 71 



at Cambridge, March 25, 1549. Again, in 
June 5, 1549, he writes, and says: "I wrote to 
you lately before the reformation of the 
Churches was publicly known. A book has 
now been published a month or two back, 
which the English Churches received with the 
greatest satisfaction." He then goes on to 
describe the book. Finally the Minutes of 
the Privy Council meetings on February 2d, 
8th, 28th, and for March 4th, 1549, prove that 
the Ordinal was in existence, for the Minute 
of March 4, 1549, reads: "Bishop of Worces- 
ter committed to the Fleet, for that obstinately 
he denied to subscribe to the book devised for 
the consecration and making of bishops and 
priests." 1 

The Preface to this Ordinal declares: 

" It is evident unto all men, diligently reading 
holy Scripture and ancient authors, that from the 
apostles' time there hath been these orders of min- 
isters in Christ's Church : bishops, priests, and 
deacons, which offices were evermore held in such 
reverent estimation that no man, by his own private 
authority, might presume 2 to execute any of them, 
except he were first called, tried, and examined. 
. . . And therefore to the intent these orders 



1 Pococke's Kdit. of Burnet. 

2 Probably aimed at the wandering Anabaptist preachers 
of the time. 



72 History of the Ritual 

should be continued, and reverently used and es- 
teemed in this Church of England, it is requisite 
that no man (not being at this present bishop, priest, 
nor deacon) shall execute any of them except he be 
called, tried, examined, and admitted according to 
the form hereafter following," etc., etc. 

Those in the English Church who hold to 
the necessity of Episcopal ordination appeal 
to this Preface as proof that such was the doc- 
trine of the Church of England from the be- 
ginning. But there is nothing in this Preface 
against the validity of non-Episcopal ordina- 
tions in other Churches, nor is there anything 
in it that might not have been accepted by 
the Lutheran bodies of that day 1 who did not 
choose to avail themselves of Episcopal ordi- 
nation for their ministers. Further, the senti- 
ments of the English Reformers were all 
against the absolute necessity of Episcopal or- 
dination in order to a valid ministry, 2 and we 
are therefore driven to the conclusion that the 
Ordinal in this respect was a concession to the 
Roman party, whose views were expressed in 
the Preface, although it was probably written 



l See Seckendorf, Hist. Lutheran lib. iii, $56, De Potes- 
tate et Juris. Episcoporum. Also the scheme of government 
drawn up by Lutheran divines at Wittenberg in Sec. 119, ibid. 
Melanchthon's Works, Vol. II, Col. 740. 

2 See my " Historic Episcopate " for the teachings of the 
Reformers, p. 88. 



Formation 73 



by Cranmer, while the Reformers carried their 
convictions 1 into the essential part of the ordi- 
nation service. 2 

According to Burnet, Collier, and we may- 
add Soame, 3 the new Liturgy was gladly ac- 
cepted by all the people, except the adherents 
of the Roman practice, throughout the king- 
dom. But Bucer's letter to John Calvin will 
not sustain the strong statements of these 
eminent historians. Bucer complains : "Many 
of the parochial clergy so recite and admin- 
ister the service that the people have no more 
understanding of the mysteries of Christ than 
if the Latin instead of the vulgar tongue were 
still in use. And when complaints respecting 
these shocking abuses of the Church are laid 
by godly men before the rulers of the king- 
dom, they say it is the business of the bishops 
to remedy the evil ; when they are laid before 
the bishops — those, namely, who have long 
since made a profession of the gospel — their 
reply is that they can not rectify them without 
an Act of Parliament for that purpose." 4 
And Hooper (afterwards bishop) writing to 



1 See Burnet's " Records " for the views of Cranmer and 
his colleagues in reform. 

2 "Historic Episcopate," The English Ordinal. 
8 " History of Reformation," Vol. Ill, p. 33. 
4 "Original letters, " 2, p. 546. 



74 History of the Ritual 

Bullinger says, referring to the Prayer-book: 
"I am so much offended with that book, and 
that not without abundant reason, that if it 
be not corrected, I neither can nor will com- 
municate with the Church in the administra- 
tion of the [Lord's] Supper." * 

Unhappily at this time there were in pro- 
cess of development the germs of those great 
religious parties which in later years played 
such important parts in the history of religion 
in England. The most radical opinions of the 
Reformed in Germany and Switzerland had 
been transplanted into England, and as a re- 
sult, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Zwinglian- 
ism could number numerous and powerful ad- 
herents among the English Reformed. Among 
the disciples of these teachings there was little 
or no agreement except upon a few general 
truths, and while they were all opposed to the 
doctrine of transubstantiation, yet among 
themselves they could come to no understand- 
ing on the doctrine of the Eucharist, nor on 
the question of ministerial vestments, nor on 
many other subjects of dispute which but for 
the disturbed state of the times might have 



1 The foreign Reformers were all dissatisfied with the 
book. See Orig. I^et. Vol. I. Ep. 130, p. 281, p. 282 ; Ep. 170, 
173, PP- 353, 353, 354 ; Ep. 227, 230, pp. 480, 486, 487, 488 ; Ep. 
267, p. 580: Ep. 312, 3 l8 > PP- 66 5, 674. Ibid. Vol. II. 



Formation 75 



been included among the adiaphora, or things 
indifferent. To add to the confusion and un- 
certainty resulting from the conflicting opin- 
ions of these English Reformers, who to the 
best of their ability were honestly groping 
their way toward the light without any Ari- 
adne thread to guide them, swarms of German 
Anabaptists, who had taken refuge in Eng- 
land from the severities at home, began to 
preach their heresies everywhere, to the dis- 
tress of all sober men and the reproach of the 
Reformation. In the same category, and as 
radically departed from the sanity of the 
Christian faith, were a class of preachers 
known as Gospelers, who went about as ex- 
pounders of the gospel ; but whose character, 
if any reliance can be placed on historical 
sources of the time, was a scandal to their 
calling. 1 They were obnoxious to the better 
element of all parties. "These," wrote Cal- 
vin in his letter to the Lord Protector Somer- 
set, "are men of whimsey and enthusiasm, and 
if they might have their will, would quickly 
confound all order and public settlement." 
"They, as well as others," he says, "ought to 



1 Micronious to Bullinger, Orig. I^et., p. 560. Also 
Hooper's L,etter, p. 65. See also Becon's preface to his book 
"Jewel of Joy." Also Carwithen's "History Church of 
England," p. 251. 



76 History of the Ritual 

feel the weight of a severe correction, and 
have the sword drawn upon them.' , * 

As a consequence of this unsettled con- 
dition of religion, very natural in a period of 
transition, and of the harsh clashing of multi- 
form views, notions, and doctrines abroad in 
the land and growing more numerous and 
confusing every day, the Book of Common 
Prayer and the Ordinal were violently at- 
tacked by men of every shade of opinion, ex- 
cept those who were not insensible to the 
moral force of time-honored custom, and who, 
out of a laudable tenderness for the weak- 
nesses of others, were content to reform 
slowly rather than with a shock to sever all 
connection with the past by a sudden ruption 
with ancient usage. There are reigns of ter- 
ror in religion, sometimes, as there are in 
politics, and it is a difficult undertaking to 
decide between the Robespierres, Mirabeaus, 
and Dantons of a revolutionary tribunal, and 
the fanatical leaders of frenzied religionists 
who constitute themselves the infallible inter- 
preters of the will of Heaven, and dethrone all 
authority that they might exalt their own. 

Calvin criticised the book severely. This 
leader of the Calvinistic party was not op- 

1 Collier, "Ecclesiastical History," Vol. V, p. 354- 



Formation 77 



posed to a Liturgy, as may be supposed, for he 
had prepared a form for the Church at Ge- 
neva; and in a letter to the Protector Somer- 
set he highly approves that there should be 
a certain Form of Prayer and Ecclesiastical 
Rites, giving succinct and plausible reasons 
for the same. 1 But he was opposed to this 
form. It seemed, therefore, that the book 
must be amended. Bucer, and Peter Martyr, 
and Hooper had also taken exceptions to 
some of the services and to the requirements 
of the rubrics. 2 Archbishop Cranmer had de- 
sired the opinion of Bucer on the book, and 
for his benefit, since he could not read Eng- 
lish, had it translated into Latin. This being 
accomplished, Bucer, while thanking God that 
he found nothing in the English ceremonies 
but what was either taken from Holy Scrip- 
ture or was in harmony with it, provided they 
were rightly interpreted, proceeded neverthe- 
less to write some twenty-eight chapters of 
censure on the book. 3 But however incon- 
sistent Bucer's thanks may have been with his 
censures, there were better reasons for his cen- 



1 Fuller's " Ch. Hist, of Britain," Vol. II, p. 360. 

8 " Original fetters," pp. 562-81, etc. 

3 Censura Martini Buceri super libro Sacrorum, sett 
Ordinationis Ecclesice atque Ministerii Ecclesiastici in 
Regno Anglics, ad petitionem R. Archiepiscopi Cantuari- 
ensis Thomce Cranmeri, Conscripta. 



78 History of the Ritual 

sures than cause for his thanks. The book 
was too deeply tinged with Medievalism. 
Many of its prayers and ceremonies could be 
in no manner reconciled to Scripture as inter- 
preted by the reformed theology. Although 
it is frankly acknowledged that the compilers 
went back to Liturgies antedating the corrup- 
tion of the Roman Church, still it must also 
be admitted that they did not go back far 
enough. Back of the fourth century, to 
which they often refer, there lies a long stretch 
of three hundred years, in which we look in 
vain for many of the rites and ceremonies and 
prayers of this first Prayer-book of Edward 
VI, as we look in vain for the doctrines and 
pious notions out of which they sprung. Peter 
Martyr agreed with Bucer in his criticisms; 
but both in the spirit of moderation were op- 
posed to Hooper in the stand he took against 
the use of vestments ordered by the rubrics. 
Hooper was a stalwart leader among the Re- 
formers, deeply imbued with the stern the- 
ology of the Genevan school, and inclined to 
go far beyond what his conservative friends 
deemed prudent in the unsettled state of the 
times. Because of his learning and zeal he 
was nominated to the bishopric of Gloucester ; 
but he refused to be ordained in Episcopal 



Formation 79 



garments, on the ground that they were of 
purely human invention and not in harmony 
with the simplicity of the Gospel. Contro- 
versy over these habits threatened seriously 
the progress of the Reformation on the lines 
contemplated by a large section of Reforma- 
tion leaders, who were not willing to submit 
their cause to the leadership of Calvin, 
Zwingli, or the Lutheran divines. Hooper 
finally swallowed his scruples, and was conse- 
crated according to the Ordinal. These dis- 
putes concerning sacerdotal vestments, and 
the turning of altars into tables as a conse- 
quence of debates on the Lord's Supper, and 
the animadversions of German and Swiss the- 
ologians, together with the general attack in- 
duced by popular declaimers, finally led to, 
and in fact necessitated, a revision of the 
Prayer-book and Ordinal. Martyr gives 
thanks that he and Bucer were instrumental 
in bringing exceptionable places in the book 
to the notice of the bishops. He then goes 
on to say that Archbishop Cranmer informed 
him that a consultation had been held relating 
to revision, and many alterations were to be 
made; "and what pleases me most/' he con- 
tinues, "Sir John Cheke acquaints me that if 
the bishops refuse to consent to the altering 



80 History of the Ritual 

what is necessary, the king is resolved to do 
it himself, and recommend that affair at the 
next session of Parliament." 

The book was revised. In the office of the 
Communion the Ten Commandments were 
added at the beginning. The use of the sign 
of the cross and some passages in the prayer 
of consecration were omitted. On the recom- 
mendation of Bucer, the prayer, "Hear us, 
merciful Father, we beseech thee" etc., was 
changed to the form now in the Ritual, "Hear 
us, merciful Father, we most humbly beseech 
thee, and grant that we, receiving these thy crea- 
tures of bread and wine, according to thy Son's, 
our Savior Jesus Christ's, holy institution," etc. 

The form for the delivery of the bread to 
the communicants (see page 67) was changed 
into "Take and eat this in remembrance that 
Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy 
heart by faith with thanksgiving" For the 
words at the giving of the cup were substi- 
tuted, "Drink this in remembrance that Chrisfs 
blood was shed for thee, and be thankful" 1 

In the revised book a rubric was inserted 
by order of the Council 2 concerning kneeling 
at the reception of the bread and wine, but 

1 Both forms are now used by the Church of England and 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

2 I,athbury, " Hist. B. C. P.," p. 34- 



Formation 



not until some copies of the book had been 
circulated. The direction was ordered as a 
signification "of our humble and grateful ac- 
knowledgment of the benefits of Christ, 
therein given to all worthy receivers, and for 
the avoiding such profanation and disorder 
in the holy communion as might otherwise 
ensue; yet, lest this gesture should by any 
persons, either out of ignorance and infirmity, 
or out of malice and obstinacy, be miscon- 
strued and depraved, it is here declared that 
thereby no adoration is intended, or ought to 
be done, either to the sacramental bread and 
wine then bodily received, or unto any corporal 
presence of Christ's natural flesh and blood." * 
The Vestiarian controversy was not with- 
out results. There was a notable alteration in 
the outward solemnities of divine worship. 
The rubrics in the revised form required 
neither copes or other vestments, but the sur- 
plice only. Bishop Ridley on the day ap- 
pointed for the introduction of the new book 
"did officiate the divine service of the morn- 
ing in his rochet only, without cope or vest- 
ment." 2 



# i Collier, "Keel. Hist.," Vol. V, p. 426. In the reign of 
Elizabeth this rubric was omitted. 

2 Heylin, "Eccl. Hist.," p. 126. Strype's "Memorials of 
Cranmer," p. 416. 

6 



82 History of the Ritual 

On the 13th of January, 1552, Parliament 
met at Westminster. The Revised Book and 
Ordinal ware accepted and enjoined for pub- 
lic use by a statute entitled, "An Act for the 
Uniformity of Common Prayer and Admin- 
istration of the Sacraments." By order of 
the king the book was translated into French 
for the use of the inhabitants of the isles of 
Guernsey and Jersey and for the city and sur- 
rounding villages of Calais. 

Thus were finished the long labors of the 
Reformers. They endeavored to provide the 
Church of England with a Liturgy, free, as 
they believed, from the superstitions of ages, 
while retaining all that was necessary to the 
decency and dignity of Divine service. With 
the exception of some superfluous rites and 
unscriptural prayers, it was, on the whole, an 
admirable expression of Scriptural teaching 
and intelligent devotion. Unfortunately the 
book fell dead. Edward VI died the next 
year, and a new order of unscheduled events 
changed the character of religion in the 
Church of England. 



Chapter III 

DIVISIONS 
Queen Mary, A. D. 1553— Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1558 

On the death of Edward VI, Mary, his 
half-sister, ascended the throne, July 6, 1553. 
During the reign of her brother, Mary had 
strenuously and successfully resisted all ef- 
forts, both of the king and Council, to induce 
her to conform to the Book of Common 
Prayer. It was, therefore, not to be expected, 
having now obtained the crown, by virtue of 
which, according to the laws of the realm, she 
was now the Supreme Head of the Church, 
that she would use that power and her royal 
prerogatives to protect that which she for- 
merly rejected, or tolerate those who were 
the avowed enemies of her creed. In open 
Council, August 12th, she had indeed de- 
clared that while she herself was settled in her 
own mind concerning matters of religion, she 
was resolved not to compel others to adopt 
her views, and on the 18th of the same month 
a similar declaration was widely published on 
83 



84 History of the Ritual 

the occasion of a tumult at St. Paul's, caused 
by the imprudence of Bourn, chaplain to the 
detested Bonner, Bishop of London. 

Such declarations were conciliatory 
enough to have confirmed the hope that the 
people would be permitted to continue in the 
religion established under Edward VI, and 
enjoy, without fear or molestation after a 
stormy period, the blessings of peace. But 
toleration in religion was not a shining virtue 
in any party that was able to draw the sword 
or to execute the laws. The same proclama- 
tion which exhorted the people to live ami- 
cably side by side notwithstanding diversity 
of beliefs, also stated that there would be no 
change in religion "till public order should 
be taken in it by common consent," and it in- 
hibited until such order was settled all preach- 
ing and expounding of the Scripture under 
extreme penalty of the statutes. 

Parliament met in October. On the sec- 
ond day of the session a bill was introduced 
for a review of the laws of King Edward VI, 
but this was laid aside for the present. At 
the second session, the first one having lasted 
only eight days, a bill was sent down from the 
House of Lords to the Commons repealing 
all laws passed in the preceding reign on the 



Divisions 85 



subject of religion. The Commons did not 
readily assent to the bill, being opposed, as 
they asserted, to the proposed law, that the 
Latin tongue should be substituted for Eng- 
lish in public worship; but after a debate of 
six days it was finally carried, with an enact- 
ment that from the 20th of December next 
no other form of Divine service should be per- 
mitted other than that which was in vogue in 
the last year of King Henry VIII. At this 
same time a proclamation was issued against 
heretical books, the Book of Common Prayer 
and Ordinal being expressly mentioned. The 
order ran that no one should use "any book 
concerning the common service and adminis- 
tration set forth in English to be used in the 
Churches of this realm in the time of King 
Edward VI, commonly called the Commun- 
ion Book, or Book of Common Service and 
Ordering of Ministers, otherwise called the 
book as set forth by authority of Parliament 
for Common Prayer and Administration of 
the Sacraments: but shall within fifteen days 
bring or deliver the said books to the Ordi- 
nary, where such books remain at the said 
Ordinary's will and disposition to be burned." 
Thus all things were put back where they 
stood at the closing years of Henry VIII. 



86 History of the Ritual 

Soon the fires of persecution were lighted. 
Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and many other 
eminent leaders whose memory is enshrined 
in the Ritual, paid the penalty of their hero- 
ism with a martyr's death. 

The history of this remarkable book now 
carries us beyond the shores of England, and 
opens up to us a deplorable condition of af- 
fairs among the Reformed. On the acces- 
sion of Mary, as we have seen, the tide turned. 
Roman bishops, who had been deprived under 
Edward VI, were restored to their Sees; Prot- 
estant bishops were peremptorily cited before 
the Council, pastors were rudely expelled 
from their Churches, the Latin service began 
to appear, and all, high or low, who mani- 
fested disinclination toward a revival of Ro- 
manism were looked upon with disfavor. 
Religion and politics were rapidly gliding 
Romeward. The more noted among the Re- 
formed took alarm, as well they might, and 
about eight hundred fled the country, to find 
refuge in the Protestant towns of Germany 
and Switzerland. They settled as convenience 
or inclination led them to Frankfurt, Stras- 
burg, Zurich, Geneva, and other places, where 
they formed small communities and main- 
tained correspondence between themselves re- 



Divisions 87 



lating to their own affairs and the progress 
of events at home. 

The Horatian dictum that they who fly to 
foreign climes change their skies, but not 
themselves, was never better illustrated than 
in the case of these Marian exiles. They took 
their troubles and disputations with them, and 
sought to exercise over each other that au- 
thority which they strenuously resisted when 
employed by others. Nor were these dis- 
cords moderated, but were the rather aggra- 
vated than appeased, by the influences at work 
in the places where they settled. Among the 
families at Frankfurt was Whittingham, who 
in England had manifested inflexible hostility 
to the Liturgy. This man had adopted the 
teachings of Zwingli on the Lord's Supper 
and the wearing of habits. An occasion soon 
offered itself for him in this new situation to 
put his convictions into practice. The exiles 
at Frankfurt having obtained from the magis- 
trates the use of the church there, on the con- 
dition that they should subscribe to the 
French Confession of Faith, and that there 
should be no controversy over forms of wor- 
ship, Whittingham advised the English to 
adopt a service widely differing from the Lit- 
urgy they had used at home. This they did, 



88 History of the Ritual 

conforming closely to the Calvinistic form of 
the congregation worshiping in the same 
church. Accordingly the Ritual was changed, 
and from the nature of the case the use of the 
surplice was discarded. 

These Frankfurt exiles were not content, 
however, to enjoy alone the freedom they had 
asserted for themselves in the adoption of a 
new Form of Divine Service; but they de- 
sired greatly to impress its benefits upon other 
English congregations at Strasburg, Zurich, 
and Basle. The refugees in these towns were 
invited to Frankfurt, "where the Word of God 
was duly preached, where the sacraments were 
rightly administered, and where a Scriptural 
Discipline was established." Letters were 
also addressed to them inviting them to send 
some of their ministers to Frankfurt "to pre- 
side over a congregation formed after this 
primitive model." But these exiles failed to 
appreciate the novelties in worship introduced 
by their countrymen at Frankfurt. Strasburg, 
situated midway between Frankfurt and Zu- 
rich, was inclined a little to modify the Eng- 
lish Liturgy ; but the Zurich divines positively 
refused to heed the invitation sent them, un- 
less they were assured the English Ritual 
would be retained without alteration. Finally 



Divisions 89 



three leading divines were invited to preside 
over the Frankfurt congregation — the famous 
John Knox from Geneva, Leaver from Zurich, 
and Haddon from Strasburg. 

The influence of Knox upon the troubled 
waters at Frankfurt was not of an oleaginous 
character. Knox was a mighty Reformer, a 
bold Elijah, a stern, fearless, but severe, de- 
fender of "the faith once delivered to the 
saints.' , He was learned, eloquent, magnetic, 
and masterful. Zeal for the truth as he saw it 
and felt it was in him as a consuming fire. 
The convictions which dominated his mental 
and moral faculties gave him the character of 
a resistless hero ; but they also, unfortunately, 
added fuel to his inflammable, impetuous 
temper, which could brook no control, and 
exalted him to that painful pre-eminence 
where, intolerant of weakness in himself, he 
looked with small indulgence on the infirm- 
ities of others. On the death of Edward VI 
he quitted England, and took up his abode 
in Geneva, where Calvin ruled both in Church 
and State with the authority of a king and the 
infallibility of a pope. In this atmosphere, 
congenial to his temperament, Knox became 
thoroughly imbued with the rigid principles 
and theology of the Genevan school, and from 



90 History of the Ritual 

there he went to Frankfurt, with the deter- 
mination of putting these principles into prac- 
tice by excluding from the public services the 
English Liturgy, and establishing in its stead 
the Genevan form. The refusal of the exiles 
at Zurich and Strasburg to send their divines 
to Frankfurt unless King Edward's book was 
used occasioned great controversy. The 
Frankfurt congregation declared that they 
would use the English book so far as it was 
conformable to the Word of God; but as for 
the unprofitable ceremonies, though some of 
them were tolerable, yet, being in a foreign 
country, they would not be allowed to use 
them, and in their own judgment they 
thought it better that they should never be 
practiced. 

This way of looking at the subject was 
not satisfactory to the exiles at Strasburg. 
Two of their number — Chambers and Grin- 
dal, afterward archbishop — were therefore de- 
puted to visit Frankfurt, carrying with them 
a letter subscribed by sixteen names. In this 
letter the plea that the magistrates of Frank- 
furt would not permit the use of the English 
Liturgy was shown to be groundless. The 
imperious duty of the English Protestants in 
the present situation, it was further set forth, 



Divisions 91 



was to manifest, though in a strange land, 
their loyalty to the book of Edward VI as the 
book of the Church of England ; "should they 
deviate from it at this time they apprehended 
they should seem to condemn those who were 
now sealing it with their blood, and give oc- 
casion to charge them with inconsistency." 
To this the Frankfurtians answered that "they 
had omitted as few ceremonies as possible, 
so that there was no danger of their being 
charged with inconsistencies. They appre- 
hended that the martyrs in England were not 
dying in defense of ceremonies which they 
allow may be altered ; and as for doctrine, there 
is no difference; therefore, if the learned di- 
vines of Strasburg should come to Frankfurt 
with no other views but to reduce the congre- 
gation to King Edward's Form, and to estab- 
lish the popish ceremonies, they give them to 
understand that they had better stay away." 
This letter was signed by John Knox, John 
Bale, John Fox, the martyrologist, and four- 
teen others. 1 While this correspondence was 
going on, the dissensions of the exiles reached 
the ears of the Reformed in England, and 
added much to the bitterness of their suffer- 
ings. The noble martyr, Ridley, a short time 

1 Neal's " History of the Puritans," Vol. I, p. 67. 



92 History of the Ritual 

before he went to the stake wrote to Grindal, 
one of the deputies mentioned above from the 
Strasburg Church, defending in glowing lan- 
guage the English Liturgy from the criticisms 
of Knox. 1 The objections of Knox, however, 
were not such as might not have been adopted 
with profit both to the peace and the unity 
of the English Church; for it was here that 
schism began, which afterwards widened into 
those great dissenting bodies included under 
the general term — Nonconformists. 

The Frankfurtians were not to be brought 
into conformity by the Strasburg divines ; on 
the contrary, they proposed to adopt the Ge- 
nevan Form and Discipline; but Knox, 
strange to say, though he might have desired 
as much unanimity as possible, would not 
consent to this till consultation had been held 
with the congregations at Strasburg, Zurich, 
Emden, and other places. Until their opinion 
was received he would not permit the use of 
the Book of Common Prayer; 2 but should 
they decide that its use must continue, he 
would confine his office to preaching or re- 
sign. While this affair was in progress, 
Leaver of the Zurich congregation proposed, 



1 Strype's " I^ife of Archbishop Grindal," p. 29. 

2 Collier, " History," Vol. VI. 



Divisions 93 



as Baxter did in the reign of Charles II, to 
draw up a Liturgy which should not servilely 
follow any form then in use. The Frankfurt 
people seemed willing at first; but perceiving 
that the proposed Liturgy fell below their ideas 
of what constituted simplicity and purity in 
public worship, the offer was rejected. 

It was now Calvin's turn to take a hand. 
Thinking that perhaps some compromise 
might be reached, or, which is more probable, 
because there was no prospect of accommo- 
dation between the factions, Knox and Whit- 
tingham made a Latin abstract of the English 
service, and sent it to Calvin for his judgment. 
Calvin had no love for the English Liturgy. 
His cold, severely logical, and incisive intel- 
lect — a snowy, ice-clad Matterhorn lifting its 
granite front into the infinite blue — could 
scarcely tolerate suggestive symbolism or the 
aesthetic element in religion which appeals to 
imagination and awakens emotion. To him 
the throne of the Almighty rested on the crags 
of Sinai, not on Calvary. There was little 
need, then, for the special pleading indulged 
in by his correspondents, who in the abstract 
they prepared "obtruded," says Carwithen, 
"their own censures, caviling at many parts 
with great severity, and pretending to have 



94 History of the Ritual 

concealed many blemishes for tenderness and 
shame." 1 Calvin replied that, "For himself, 
he was always inclined to gentleness, and it 
was his custom to yield to his weaker brethren 
in respect to ceremonies; but yet he thought 
it unwise to indulge the stubborn and inflex- 
ible. In the English Liturgy he could discover 
many tolerable fooleries — midtce tolerabiles 
inepticu — or weaknesses, and such blemishes as 
they are not sinful might be allowed at first; 
when they could not be amended, they must 
be endured. But it behooved the learned, 
grave, and godly ministers of Christ to make 
a farther enterprise and to establish a form 
of greater purity." 2 The congregation at 
Frankfurt needed nothing more. Sustained 
by the decision of the great leader of Reform, 
they refused to submit to the proposition of 
the Strasburg divines. But instead of peace, 
as was expected, fresh troubles broke out 
among themselves. Emboldened by their 
success, the admirers of Calvin translated the 
Genevan Liturgy into English, hoping thereby 
to substitute that office for the discredited 
book of Edward VI. The congregation, how- 

iCarwithen, "History of the Church of England," "His- 
tory of the Troubles at Frankfurt." 

2 High Churchmen are severer in their criticism of Cal- 
vin's opinion on the English Service-book than the facts will 
warrant. 



Divisions 95 



ever, which seemed to have no settled views, 
rejected the Geneva Form, and a compromise 
was hit upon by which both Service-books 
were to be partially used for a period of four 
months, and if in the meantime any new con- 
tention arose the matter should be referred 
to Calvin, Musculus, Peter Martyr, Bullinger, 
and Vinet, eminent names in the history of 
those far-away times. 

Before the expiration of the time, Dr. Cox, 
late dean of Christ Church, and who had been 
tutor with Sir John Cheke to King Edward 
VI, arrived in Frankfurt from England with 
several of his friends. The coming of these 
refugees from the persecutions of Bloody 
Mary stirred anew the smoldering embers of 
discord. Dean Cox could not endure the ob- 
loquy which had been cast upon the Liturgy 
of the Church of England. His Jehu-like 
zeal drove him to extremes. He broke 
through the agreement, interrupted the pub- 
lic service by repeating the responses aloud, 
and on the Sunday following one of his com- 
pany ascended the pulpit and read the whole 
litany. Cox would recede from the Liturgy in 
no particular. On the other side, Knox and 
his party would in no degree submit to the 
impositions of the Coxians, and as one of 



96 History of the Ritual 

these had used the pulpit for the reading of 
prayers, Knox used it for an intemperate dec- 
lamation against the Liturgy and the Refor- 
mation in England. 

It was evident that these unseemly dis- 
turbances could not continue always. A meet- 
ing was called for the settlement of difficul- 
ties. Cox and his party, after much debate, 
were allowed to vote, which privilege they 
used to the best advantage, and drove Knox 
from his post as pastor of the Church. But 
this surprising turn of affairs allayed no strife. 
Whittingham complained to the magistrates 
of the city of the wrong that had been done, 
and of the disorders which were destroying 
the peace of the congregation. The Senate 
thereupon ordered a conference of the fac- 
tions ; but when they met, the impossibility of 
agreement became immediately apparent, and 
the meeting broke up, having accomplished 
nothing. The Knoxians forthwith addressed 
the Senate of Frankfurt, laying once more 
their grievances before them. The Senate, 
being thus compelled to take decisive action, 
commanded that the English should hence- 
forth conform to the French, both in doctrine 
and ceremonies, or close their Church, and 
that those who would not conform should 



Divisions 97 



leave the city. Exiles from home where the 
Liturgy was outlawed by Parliamentary enact- 
ment ; guests of a foreign people who, though 
Protestant, yet had no tender feeling for the 
conservative English Reformation, what was 
left for these adherents of the English Liturgy, 
thus placed between the dungeon or the stake 
at home or endless wanderings among un- 
friendly people abroad, but quietly to submit 
to the dictates of the magistrates? But the 
triumph of the Scotch reformer was of short 
duration. The deeds of yesterday oft return 
to plague us, and even those acts of bravery, 
self-sacrifice, or affection, which once elicited 
applause, may be used by inborn meanness or 
disappointed ambition to work our ruin, as 
the patriotic deed of Moses in slaying the 
Egyptian was employed against him by one 
of his own countrymen. Some years before 
these events, Knox had published, while in 
England, a book entitled ''An Admonition to 
Christians," in which he wrote severe reflec- 
tions on the Emperor Charles V, his son 
Philip, and on Mary, the reigning Queen of 
England. It was an unchristian and a most 
dishonorable thing for his opponents to take 
advantage now of his mistake, which they 
probably approved of at the time; but un- 
7 



98 History of the Ritual 

worthy as the act was, it was upon this book 
that a charge of high treason was now pre- 
ferred against John Knox by the partisans of 
Cox, to such desperate lengths will religious 
bigotry sometimes lead. The senators of 
Frankfurt, fearing the consequences of har- 
boring in their town an enemy of the em- 
peror, commanded Knox to leave the city. 
On his expulsion from Frankfurt, Knox 
returned to Geneva, where he and a Mr. 
Goodman were chosen pastors by the English 
congregation. This community having 
adopted the opinions of Calvin in their en- 
tirety, discarded the English Liturgy, and pub- 
lished in English the Genevan Form under 
the title, "The Service, Discipline, and Form 
of Common Prayer, and Administration of 
the Sacraments used in the English Church 
of Geneva/' With this book they desired to 
set aside the book of Edward VI, and with 
this end in view there was prefixed a dedica- 
tion addressed to the Reformed in England, 
lauding the Discipline which they had 
adopted, and stating that the late Service-book 
of King Edward being now set aside by Par- 
liament, according to law it was in no sense 
the established worship of the Church of Eng- 
land, and consequently they were under no 



Divisions 99 



obligation to use it any farther than it was 
consonant with the Word of God. Being 
therefore at liberty and in a strange land, they 
had set up such an order as, in the judgment 
of Mr. Calvin and other learned divines, was 
most agreeable to Scripture and the best" Re- 
formed Churches. Such specious pleas had 
no effect upon those who were not willing to 
substitute the authority of Calvin in matters 
religious for the papal authority they had for- 
merly rejected. The Church at Frankfurt 
stood firmly loyal to the English book. 

Thus was developed that deplorable con- 
flict, the seeds of which had been sown some 
years before, which divided the Church of 
England, and gave rise to the great religious 
parties afterward known as Presbyterians, 
Brownists, and Independents. Looking back 
over these controversies with impartial eye, 
there appears no good reason why the book 
of Edward VI might not have been revised 
on the general lines suggested by the Puri- 
tans, and afterward accomplished by Wesley 
without detriment to devotion or apostolic 
doctrine, had the Puritans been less head- 
strong and radical in their demands, and the 
Churchmen more evangelical in their sym- 
pathies; had the Puritans been less insistent 



LtfCr 



ioo History of the Ritual 

and peremptory in their purpose to ignore the 
religious feelings and opinions of more than 
one-half of the people of England in their de- 
termination to effect an immediate rupture 
with the whole past history and life of the 
English Church, and the Churchmen been 
more in touch with the age they had helped to 
produce; and had the Puritans, finally, been 
content with a sober appeal to reason and 
Scripture, without setting up for their own 
notions and beliefs concerning Church gov- 
ernment and ecclesiastical forms the exclusive 
and doubtful claim of Divine authority. But 
the peculiarity of that time was that what one 
party denied or resented in another, it claimed 
and defended for itself. Religious parties 
were opposed to persecutions only when they 
were the persecuted. When the victims of 
intolerance grasped the power to wield the 
sword, they too, in turn, justified their prin- 
ciples of coercive uniformity by an appeal 
to the majesty of law. It was the age of di- 
visions. Mighty forces were struggling in the 
womb of Time. Daylight and darkness were 
still contending for supremacy. The new 
learning and the old superstitions were still 
engaged in eager combat. The prison, the 
stake, or the block were still the sure destiny 



Divisions 101 



of the conquered ; and it is not surprising that 
in such an age religious antagonisms excited 
earnest souls, who believed something, to the 
highest pitch, drove them with rancor to the 
making of excessive and even preposterous 
claims, and compelled them to look upon the 
moderation of conservatism with feelings of 
enmity and disdain not less strong in their 
intensity than those exhibited to the common 
enemy. 

But the period of exile drew to a close. 
Two weeks after Mary expired the news of 
her death reached Zurich, and the exiles in 
the various places in Germany and Switzer- 
land prepared with gladness for their return 
home. Sentiments worthy of such confessors 
gained for the time being the upper hand 
over all memories of past feuds, and letters 
breathing Christian charity were exchanged 
between the Churches. Geneva wrote to 
Frankfurt, praying that when they reached 
home they would join their Genevan brethren 
in preaching the Word of God, and earnestly 
hoped they would join with them in obtaining 
a form of worship similar to that practiced 
by the Reformed Churches on the Continent. 
Frankfurt echoed the fraternal voice of Ge- 
neva; but as to forms of worship they could 



102 History of the Ritual 

not assume the right to prescribe a service for 
the Church of England; nevertheless they 
would not be contentious; to things indiffer- 
ent they would submit, and prayed that their 
brother-exiles in Geneva would follow their 
example when they returned to England. 



Chapter IV 

PARTIES 
Elizabeth, A. D. 1558— James I, A. D. 1603 

Elizabeth succeeded to the throne No- 
vember 17, 1558. Seldom did a sovereign 
assume the reins of government under 
circumstances more discouraging, and with 
prospects more uncertain than those which 
confronted Elizabeth on the day of her coro- 
nation. Politically, financially, and relig- 
iously, the kingdom was in a distracted con- 
dition. The pope, Pius IV, was opposed to 
her, and it was certain that he would both 
excommunicate her and depose her, and stir 
up against her the princes of Christendom. 
The French king was watching his oppor- 
tunity to embroil the nation; the Scotch and 
the Irish were discontented ; the heads of no- 
bility holding power in the reign of Queen 
Mary were in sullen mood ; the Roman priest- 
hood were strenuous in their opposition to 
any change in the national religion; while 
the friends of Reform were as firmly fixed in 
their determination to suppress the doctrines 
103 



104 History of the Ritual 

and practices of Rome by Act of Parlia- 
ment. 

The complex situation in which Elizabeth 
found herself, as well as her own incli- 
nation, impelled her to assume at the begin- 
ning a neutral attitude toward the two great 
religious parties. But the Reformed having, 
as they believed, sufficient reason for suppos- 
ing that the private sentiments of the queen 
were favorable to their views, and that they 
would obtain the support of eminent men 
whom Elizabeth had called to her Council, 
began to use King Edward's Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, to preach, to pull down images, 
and to commit many other acts contrary to 
existing laws, as the Romanists did in their 
religious zeal at the beginning of Queen 
Mary's reign. The Roman party became 
alarmed at this prophetic aspect of affairs, and 
general disorder ensued before Elizabeth and 
her Council were ready, whereupon a proc- 
lamation was issued December 27, 1558, com- 
manding 

"All maner of her subjects, as well those that 
be called to the ministrey in the Church, as all 
others, that they forbear to preach or to teach, or to 
gyve audience to any maner of doctrine or preachyng 
other than to the gospels and epistels, commonly 



Parties 



105 



called the gospel and epistel of the day, and to the 
Ten Commandments in the vulgar tongue, without 
exposition or addition of any maner, sense, or mean- 
ing to be applyed or added, or to use any other 
maner of publick prayer, rite, or ceremony in the 
Church but that which is already used, and by law 
receaved : or the common letany used at this present 
in Her Majesty's own chappel, and the Lord's Prayer 
and the Crede in English until such consultation 
may be had by Parliament, by Her Majesty, and her 
three estates of this realme, for the better conciliation 
and accord such causes as at this present time are 
moved in matters and ceremonies of religion." 

In the meantime, at a conference held 
by the Queen, a committee consisting of 
Doctors Bill, Parker, May, Cox, White- 
head, Grindal, Pilkington, and Sir William 
Smith, had been appointed to review the 
Prayer-book and Order of Ceremonies and 
Service in the Church. Four of the num- 
ber had been exiles. The occasion for re- 
viewing the book was the desire to unite 
the Reformed in one establishment agreeable 
to all, for although conciliatory letters had 
passed between the exiles at Frankfurt, Ge- 
neva, and other towns, yet on returning to 
England the old disputes concerning cere- 
monies and vestments broke out among them 
afresh. 



106 History of the Ritual 

The irrepressible conflict was ever the 
order of the day, and would be for many a 
day to come. Some were for adopting the 
Calvinistic Church polity and Service-book 
of Geneva, while others were in favor of the 
book of Edward VI. The queen was op- 
posed to extremes. She would neither coun- 
tenance the radicalism of the Calvinite nor 
surrender to the Romanist, hoping to make 
the Church of England the via media between 
ultra Protestantism and Romanism. Her de- 
sign was not only to bring all parties of the 
Reformed into agreement around a uniform 
mode of worship; she also hoped to satisfy 
in some measure the powerful Roman ele- 
ment in the kingdom, 1 and, with these im- 
possible ends before her, instructed the Com- 
mission. 

The first question to be settled by these 
divines was a choice between the first and 
second books of Edward VI. This evidently 
was not easily decided, for the records show 
that other eminent men were called to give 
their judgment. Chief among these was 
Guest, a very learned man, says Strype, after- 
wards Archdeacon of Canterbury, the queen's 

1 See " Documents from Simancas relating: to the Reign 
of Elizabeth (1558-1568)." Translated from the Spanish of 
Don Tomas Gonzalez by Spencer Hall, 1865. 



Parties 107 



almoner and Bishop of Rochester. Finally 
the second book was adopted, and the re- 
vision begun. The work was chiefly the labor 
of Guest, for we find that he was appointed 
by the Secretary of State Cecil to "compare 
both K. Edward's Communion Books to- 
gether, and from them both to frame a book 
for the use of the Church of England, by 
connecting and amending, altering, and add- 
ing, or taking away, according to his judg- 
ment and the ancient liturgies." On April 
18th there was presented in Parliament a bill 
for the uniformity of worship, with a copy 
of the revised book annexed. The bill was 
read for the third time on the 20th, passed 
the House of Lords on the 28th, and the book 
as revised became the only authorized Book 
of Common Prayer for the Church of England 
from the 24th of the following June, 1559. 

There were many alterations, but the prin- 
cipal differences between this book of Queen 
Elizabeth and the second book of Edward are 
seen in the communion service. With respect 
to vestments, the rubric in the second book 
ordered : 

"And here it is to be noted, that the minister at 
the time of the communion, and at all other times in 
his ministrations, shall ttse neither alb, vestment, nor 



108 History of the Ritual 

cope, but, being archbishop or bishop, he shall have 
and wear a rochet; and being a priest or deacon, he 
shall have and wear a surplice only. In the Queen's 
Book the rubric reads, And here it is to be noted that 
the minister, at the time of the communion, and at all 
other times in his ministrations, shall use such orna- 
ments in the Church as were in use by authority of 
Parliament in the second year of the reign of King 
Edward the VI, according to the Act of Parliament 
set in the beginning of this book'' 

At the communion Edward's book ordered 
these words only to be said when the bread 
is delivered, Take and eat this in remembrance 
that Christ died for thee; feed on him in thine 
heart by faith with thanksgiving. And when 
the cup is delivered, Drink this in remembrance 
that Christ's blood zvas shed for thee, and be 
thankful. 

In Queen Elizabeth's book these words 
must be said when the bread is delivered: 1 
The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which zvas 
given for thee, preserve thy body and soid unto 
everlasting life. Take and eat this in remem- 
brance that Christ died for thee; feed on him in 
thine heart by faith with thanksgiving. And 
when the cup is delivered: The blood of the 
Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee, pre- 
serve thy body and soul unto everlasting life. 

i Compare " Methodist Episcopal Ritual." 



Parties 109 



Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood 
was shed for thee, and be thankful. In line 
with these changes the rubric in King Ed- 
ward's book respecting kneeling during the 
communion was expunged. That rubric in 
explaining the reason for kneeling declared 
that ''it is not meant thereby that any adora- 
tion is done or ought to be done either unto 
the sacramental bread or wine then bodily 
received, or to any real or essential presence 
there being of Christ's natural flesh and 
blood." 1 The omission of this rubric would 
seem to indicate that the Church of England 
in the days of Elizabeth was not willing to 
go to the lengths in a denial of the real pres- 
ence of Christ in the sacrament as Cranmer 
had marked out. The discarded rubric was 
restored in 1661. In this revision under 
Charles II it may be assumed that, notwith- 
standing the restoration of the rubric, the 
Church was still adverse to a complete denial 
of the real presence. 2 

The grounds for this statement are seen 
in the significant substitution in King 
Charles's book of the words, "or unto any 
corporal presence of Christ's natural flesh and 



1 " The Two liturgies." Parker Soc. 
2 See " Card well's Conferences," p. 24. 



no History of the Ritual 

blood," for the words in King Edward's book, 
"or to any real and essential presence there 
being of Christ's natural flesh and blood." 
The Church condemned the doctrine of a cor- 
poral presence, which is the Roman doctrine 
of transubstantiation ; rejected the Lutheran 
teaching of consubstantiation with its neces- 
sary doctrine of the ubiquity of Christ's body ; 
ignored the mere memorial view of the 
Zwinglians as being wholly inadequate to ex- 
plain the New Testament implications, and 
adopted the doctrine of a real presence of 
Christ in the holy sacrament. 1 

The Act of Uniformity, by which the book 
was legally established, declared that failure 
to conform to the service should be pun- 
ished for the first offense by a loss of goods 
and chattels, twelve months imprisonment for 
the second, and a lifetime imprisonment for 
the third. 2 

The Emperor Charles V, when in retire- 
ment, amused himself by trying to make a 
number of clocks keep the same time. He 
discovered in this amusement, when it was 
too late for him and for many others, that he 



Gurnet, "History of the Reformation," Book III, Part 
II, has a very interesting bit of history on this subject. But 
see also Pusey on the " Real Presence." 

2 See Collier, " Ecclesiastical History," Vol. VI, p. 290. 



Parties 1 1 1 



could not compel all men to think the same 
thing any more than he could force his clocks 
to tell the same hour of day. Elizabeth and 
her councilors also found that to bring all 
men to see alike in matters of religion was not 
in the power of kings or Parliaments to ac- 
complish. Persecution never yet made a man 
religious. Those who had adopted the Ge- 
nevan Forms while in exile objected strenu- 
ously to the Act of Uniformity. Concerning 
doctrine there was as yet no dispute ; but the 
controversy over vestments required by the 
rubrics rose to a formidable pitch. Several 
of the exiles, such as Miles Coverdale, 
Thomas Sampson, and Bernard Gilpin, were 
offered bishoprics, but declined the office on 
account of the ceremonies. England was agi- 
tated from end to end. The bishops were 
divided in opinion. One part, led by Parker, 
Home, and Cox, were strong in their insist- 
ence that the Act of Uniformity should be 
complied with ; the other part, represented by 
Grindal, Sandys, and Jewel, accepted the situ- 
ation, but with the conviction that further 
alterations were necessary. 1 The great body 
of the exiles not only stood out against the 
use of vestments, but by degrees they began 

1 See the " Zurich Letters." 



ii2 History of the Ritual 

to attack the Church itself as a mere modi- 
fication of the Roman Church. The service 
of the Prayer-book was neglected, or irregu- 
larly observed. . Discontent was encouraged 
among the clergy, and reports were circulated 
that the more factious element had cast ridi- 
cule upon the ministerial vestments, and 
grossly insulted those who wore them. Party 
spirit rose high. Invidious distinction be- 
tween High Church and Low Church began 
to appear; political theories became associated 
with theological principles, so that it was 
gradually observed that those who were in 
favor of the ecclesiastical system of Zurich 
and Geneva were inclined also to adopt repub- 
lican ideas of State government, while those 
who stood loyal to the book as established by 
Convocation and Parliament were the recog- 
nized friends and supporters of the royal pre- 
rogatives. The inevitable division of the 
Protestant Church of England, the faint be- 
ginnings of which we have already noticed 
in the days of Edward VI, was rapidly ap- 
proaching, and with it were also coming di- 
visions in the State and the days of Revolu- 
tion when the Church and the throne would 
be involved in common ruin. 

In February, 1564, Cecil, Elizabeth's sec- 



Parties 113 



retary, informed the queen of the state of 
the country, and of the incongruous manner 
in which the service of the Church was per- 
formed. Never before or since was there such 
a medley of forms. "Some perform divine 
service," writes Cecil, "and prayers in the 
Church; others in the body of the Church; 
some in a seat made in the church; some in 
the pulpit, with their faces to the people; 
some keep precisely to the order of the book; 
others intermix psalms in meter; some offi- 
ciate with a surplice, and others without it. 
. . . Some administer the communion 
with surplice and cope, some with surplice 
alone, some with neither; some with chalice, 
others with a communion cup ; some with un- 
leavened bread, others with leavened; some 
receive kneeling, others standing, others sit- 
ting; some baptize in a font, others in a 
basin; some sign with the sign of the cross, 
others make no sign," and much more that 
we need not quote. The information was not 
pleasing to Elizabeth, whose Tudor blood 
was quickly heated when her royal prerog- 
atives were assailed. The Archbishops of 
Canterbury and York were commanded to 
confer with the bishops of the Ecclesiastical 
Commission, a body which carried out the 
8 



ii4 History of the Ritual 

royal will in all matters pertaining to religion. 
These prelates, by means of this Commission, 
were to inquire diligently what diversities 
there were among the clergy in doctrine, rites, 
and ceremonies, and "to take effectual meth- 
ods that an exact order and uniformity be 
maintained in all external rites and cere- 
monies as by law and good usages are pro- 
vided for, and that none hereafter shall be ad- 
mitted to any ecclesiastical preferment but 
who is well disposed to common order, and 
shall formally promise to comply with it." 
Evidently the storm was about to break. 
Many of the clergy were forced into painful 
alternatives. Some who had entertained 
scruples concerning the ceremonies required, 
chose to comply with the wishes of the queen 
rather than to surrender their ministry. Rob- 
ert Home, Bishop of Winchester, expressed 
the feeling of his fellow-bishops in a letter to 
Gualter: "It was enjoined us (who had not 
then any authority either to make laws or 
repeal them) either to wear the copes and sur- 
plices, or to give place to others. We com- 
plied with this injunction, lest our enemies 
should take possession of the places deserted 
by ourselves." And Edmund Grindal, Bishop 
of London, in a letter to Bullinger, 1556, 



Parties 115 

wrote: "We, who are now bishops, on our 
first return, and before we entered upon our 
ministry, contended long" and earnestly for 
the removal of those things that have occa- 
sioned the present dispute; but as we were 
unable to prevail, either with the queen or the 
Parliament," etc. But those who complied 
with the laws were not without tenderness for 
their brethren who preferred to expose them- 
selves to the penalties of the Act of Uniform- 
ity rather than submit to the ecclesiastical 
injunctions. Pilkington, Bishop of Durham, 
addressed an earnest appeal to the Earl of 
Leicester in behalf of the Dissenters; Whit- 
tingham, now Dean of Durham, wrote in sim- 
ilar strain, as did many others. Jewel 
preached at St. Paul's, not in defense of the 
vestments, but to reconcile the people to their 
use for the present. Home preached also; 
but, going farther than Jewel, he wished all 
those were cut off from the Church "that 
troubled it about white or black garments, 
round or square caps." The contest went on. 
Several bishops were either openly or secretly 
in favor of doing away with all vestments 
which reminded the people of the Roman 
services they had rejected. The foreign di- 
vines, active in their correspondence, were all 



n6 History of the Ritual 

opposed to their use. The people were more 
pronounced in their opposition than the 
clergy. In many instances they converted the 
vestments of the priests into bed-quilts, and 
turned utensils in the church into swine- 
troughs, salt-cellars, dressers for holding 
dishes, and other uses. 1 Numbers refused to 
attend Church, but held meetings of their 
own ; they refused to salute ministers wearing 
any habit, and in some places "they did spit in 
their faces, reviled them as they went along, 
and showed such rude-like behavior." 2 

The queen was inclined to call a halt; but 
the advice of Parker, the archbishop, pre- 
vailed, and the Commission insisted on con- 
formity among the clergy, or resignation of 
their charges. The unreasonable obstinacy 
of Elizabeth, and the severe measures of the 
Commission in making trivial matters com- 
pulsory, can never be defended by the friend 
of religious freedom. The issue was plainly 
between the people and their clergy, who had 
brought about the Reformation, and the im- 
perious will of the sovereign supported by 
an interested hierarchy. On the other hand, 



1U The Church Under Elizabeth," F. G. Lee, p. 135, 136 

aStrype's "Annals," Vol. I, p. 48; "Mem. Cranmer,' 
p. 363 ; " Life of Parker," p. 77. 



Parties 117 



he would be very far astray who should im- 
agine that all political and religious virtues 
were the monopoly of the Nonconformists. 
They vigorously opposed clerical habits in 
the services of the Church; but their oppo- 
sition was stronger than their logic, for they 
had no word of censure for the long black 
cassock worn by Genevan divines. Why they 
should object to the surplice, and not to gar- 
ments such as Miles Coverdale wore at the 
consecration of Archbishop Parker, is not 
clear. The truth of history is, they wished to 
Calvinize the Church of England; that is, to 
put it under the same form and polity as the 
foreign Churches who, rejecting Lutheran- 
ism, had adopted the Discipline of Calvin. 
The enmity they had felt for the Church of 
Rome they now expressed, with perhaps 
greater fierceness, toward the Church of Eng- 
land. Pilkington, who had pleaded moder- 
ation toward these Nonconformists, wrote: 
"Not only the habits, but our whole eccle- 
siastical polity, discipline, the revenues of the 
bishops, ceremonies or public forms of wor- 
ship, liturgies, vocation of ministers, or the 
ministration of the sacraments, — all these are 
now openly attacked from the press, and it is 
contended with the greatest bitterness that 



n8 History of the Ritual 

they are not to be endured in the Church of 
Christ; the doctrine alone they leave un- 
touched. As to everything else, by whatever 
name you call it, they are clamorous for its 
removal." * The Church of England, how- 
ever, could not understand why it should ac- 
knowledge the superiority of foreign theo- 
logians. English divines were not wanting 
who were as capable of forming a correct 
judgment in matters religious as any of the 
foreign divines, whom the Nonconformists 
were extolling as the only safe guides in the 
interpretation of Scripture, and the only 
Scriptural leaders in the government of the 
Church. Hence in an address to the Dis- 
senters, written probably by Jewel, the writer 
thus expostulates with his countrymen : "You 
have the gospels of Christ sincerely preached 
unto you; why are you offended? You have 
the sacred Scriptures read unto you, and at 
your will to be perused; why are you dis- 
pleased? Idolatry is reproved; why are you 
not contented? Papistry is overthrown; why 
are you moved? Concerning such as wear 
the apparel, were they not banished for the 
profession of the gospel ?" 

At length the die was cast. Some of the 

1 Zurich Iyetter. 



Parties 119 



clergy who had been deprived of their livings 
by the Act of Uniformity consulted with their 
friends, and an agreement was reached that it 
was their duty to refrain from further attend- 
ance on the public Churches, and to gather 
as opportunity afforded in private houses for 
the worship of God in a manner agreeable 
to their consciences. 1 But the great mass of 
those who were called Puritans, or Cathari, 
did not leave the Church at once, though in 
divers ways they managed to evade conform- 
ity. Within the fold of the Church they 
hoped that a change for the better would 
come about in the ongoing of affairs, and that 
their influence would modify the increasing 
antipathy of the National Church toward 
those who, like the Romanists and Lutherans, 
were now regarded as its dangerous enemies. 
The last effort in this reign to alter the 
Book of Prayer was in 1562. That year Con- 
vocation held its ninth session in the chapel- 
house of St. Paul's, to consider the Articles of 
Religion. The deliberations on these having 
been concluded January 31st, Bishop Sandys 
brought in a petition for adoption by the 
House and presentation to the queen, to the 

iSee Neal, "History of the Puritans," Vol. I, p. 126. 
Carwithen, "History of Church of England, " Vol. I, 499; 
and also Strype, "Annals." 



i2o History of the Ritual 

effect that private baptism and baptism by 
women should be expunged from the book; 
that the sign of the cross be disallowed as 
needless and superstitious. Another paper 
signed by thirty-three names, requesting that 
organs be laid aside, was also presented; that 
in the ministration of the communion the 
posture of kneeling be regarded as indifferent ; 
that the use of copes and surplices be discon- 
tinued; and that all feast days bearing the 
name of a creature be abrogated. Many other 
papers bearing on the same and similar sub- 
jects were introduced, and voted down after 
much debating, sometimes by very small ma- 
jorities, in one case by only a majority of one. 
In 1570 the Dissenters printed a prayer- 
book of their own. It was intended to be a 
substitute for the one in use, and was declared 
to be agreeable to God's Word and the usages 
of the Reformed Churches on the Continent. 
The book received no notice. Lathbury 
points out the inconsistency in putting forth 
such a book "as perfect according to God's 
Word," in which there were afterwards made 
above three hundred alterations; but the 
learned historian should have remembered 
that a similar charge of inconsistency, if such 
it was, could have been made against the 



Parties 121 



Book of Common Prayer itself, which he so 
ably defends, for that book when set forth 
under Edward VI was declared over the royal 
signature to have been composed "by the aid 
of the Holy Ghost," and yet many alterations 
were made in it during the short reign of that 
king, and again in the first years of Elizabeth. 

Neither from Parliament nor from Con- 
vocation could the Dissenters hope to obtain 
any concession to their demands. The con- 
troversy had gone too far afield, and had 
embraced in its sweep more than was at first 
contemplated or intended. The doctrine, 
rites, and ceremonies of the Church were all 
attacked, and over against her claims that 
Episcopacy was Scriptural, the Nonconform- 
ists asserted the divine right of Presbytery. 
But, as it does not fall within the scope of 
this work to include a history of the Reforma- 
tion, nor of the numerous controversies which 
grew out of it, but only to sketch the history 
of the Prayer-book, and that only so far as the 
Ritual is concerned, this chapter may now 
close with the issues and the rupture between 
the Church of England and the Dissenters 
clearly defined. 

Five miles from London, as it then was, 
there stood on the banks of the Thames the 



122 History of the Ritual 

little village of Wandsworth. Here, on No- 
vember 20, 1573, was organized the first 
Presbyterian Church in England. Eminent 
Puritan ministers and a considerable number 
of laymen, determined not to conform to the 
Established Church, gathered here in secret, 
and chose from their company eleven elders 
to minister to their spiritual needs. From this 
historic spot there went out those tremendous 
political and religious influences which, co- 
alescing with other forces, culminated finally 
in the Civil War, the execution of King 
Charles I, the Protectorate of Cromwell, the 
power of Puritanism, and the supremacy of 
Protestantism in North America. 



Copter V 

SOWING AND REAPING 
James I, A. D. 1603 — Charles II, A. D. 1660 

On March 24, 1603, six hours after the 
death of Elizabeth, James VI of Scotland, son 
of Mary Queen of Scots, was proclaimed 
James I, King of England. The accession of 
this monarch quickened the hopes of each of 
the three distinctive religious parties in Eng- 
land then contending for toleration or su- 
premacy. It was natural that the Roman 
Catholics should expect under his govern- 
ment at least gentler treatment than they had 
experienced under Elizabeth. He was born 
in the faith of the Roman Church, and as a 
martyr to that faith his mother, they averred, 
had lost both her life and her crown. With 
stronger reason for the hope that was in them, 
the Puritans saw in the accession of James I 
the triumph of their principles. Although 
born of Catholic parents, he had been edu- 
cated in the tenets of the Presbyterians, had 
subscribed to the Scottish Solemn League 

and Covenant, and on a certain occasion, with 
123 



124 History of the Ritual 

bare head and uplifted hand in the General 
Assembly at Edinburgh (1590), "he praised 
God that he was born in the time of the light 
of the Gospel, and in such a place as to be 
king of such a Church, the sincerest [purest] 
Kirk in the world. ... As for our 
neighbor Kirk of England, their service is an 
evil-said mass in English; they want nothing 
of the mass but the liftings. I charge you, 
my good ministers, doctors, elders, nobles, 
gentlemen, and barons, to stand to your pu- 
rity, and to exhort the people to do the same ; 
and I forsooth, as long as I brook my life, 
shall maintain the same." When James was 
leaving Scotland to assume the crown of Eng- 
land, he gave public thanks to God in the 
Church at Edinburgh that he had left both 
"Kirk and kingdom in that state which he 
intended not to alter anyways, his subjects 
living in peace." 

The Puritans therefore justly entertained 
high hopes for Calvinism, for the substitution 
of the Genevan Liturgy and polity for the 
Liturgy and polity of the Church of Eng- 
land. But James was a past-master in king- 
craft — pedantic, conceited, obstinate, and 
weak. He was always loyal to his convic- 
tions ; but the uppermost conviction of all was 



Sowing and Reaping 125 

that of his own importance. He was another 
illustration of Luther's retort on Henry VIII, 
that when "God wanted a fool, he turned a 
king into a theologian." 

The prelates of the National Church had 
also every ground for their belief that the new 
king would be favorable to them, for the 
reason that the Church and her ceremonies 
were established by the law of the land. The 
bishops, therefore, because of their recognized 
legal relation to the State Church, and the 
confidence born of the consciousness that they 
had a right to do so, were the first to sue for 
His Majesty's favor. As soon as Queen Eliz- 
abeth's death was announced, Archbishop 
Whitgift, Dr. Nevil, the Dean of Canterbury, 
journeyed into Scotland to do homage to the 
king, to assure him of the loyalty and duty of 
the bishops and clergy of England, and to re- 
ceive his commands respecting the ecclesias- 
tical courts. His Majesty, in reply, expressed 
his determination to uphold the Established 
Church. 

We have already referred to the conserva- 
tive Puritans, who remained within the 
Church. These, for a moment, now came to 
the front. In April, while the king was on 
his way from Edinburgh to London, there 



i26 History of the Ritual 

was presented to him a petition, styled "The 
Millenary Petition" — because at the time it 
was said that a thousand signatures were 
affixed to it — signed by seven hundred and 
fifty clergymen, all beneficed in the Church 
of England, setting forth their grievances and 
seeking reformation in the Church. The 
document purported to be the humble pe- 
tition of the "Ministers of the Church of Eng- 
land desiring Reformation of certain Cere- 
monies and Abuses in the Church." Their 
complaints were gathered under four heads: 
relating, first, to the Church service ; secondly, 
to Church ministers; thirdly, to Church liv- 
ings; and, fourthly, to Church Discipline. 
The charges under each heading they offered 
to sustain by appeal to Holy Scripture, and 
they begged His Majesty to hear them, or to 
receive information on the same in writing, 
or to appoint a conference. 

It would be a difficult task to criticise ad- 
versely all the demands of these petitioners; 
for neither ceremony nor piety would have 
been the poorer, and many useless and some 
pernicious accretions of ages would have been 
forever done away had their grievances been 
sympathetically considered. But they them- 
selves were much to blame for the outcome 



Sowing and Reaping 127 

of their endeavor; for in their excessive zeal 
for comprehensive reformation, immediate 
and thorough, the momentum of their desires 
drove them beyond the hazy, indefinite line of 
prudence. Erasmus made a wise remark that 
went to the root of things, when he said that 
Luther had committed two unpardonable 
sins — he had touched the pope's miter and the 
monks' bellies. Men may speculate on re- 
ligious, scientific, or political subjects with- 
out attracting the concentrated wrath of in- 
vested interests, so long as the purely intel- 
lectual entertainment is strictly confined to 
the realms of the abstract where nobody lives ; 
but the moment abstract principles are ap- 
plied to concrete conditions, then — whether 
it is Paul at Ephesus among the devotees of 
Diana, Savonarola in Florence, Luther in 
Wittenberg, or the Puritans in the English 
Church — then, invested rights, wealth, ease, 
privilege, profit, and power take alarm, and 
hurl their thunderbolts against the daring but 
impious reformer. Men seldom part without 
conflict with either bread or power. 

In their petition the ministers demanded 
"that impropriations annexed to bishoprics 
and colleges be given to preaching incum- 
bents only, and that lay impropriations be 



128 History of the Ritual 

charged with a sixth or seventh part for the 
maintenance of a preacher." "This motion," 
says the quaint Fuller, 1 "if effected, would cut 
off more than the nipples of the breasts of 
both universities in point of maintenance," 
and it was so felt at the time. The Universi- 
ties, therefore, of Cambridge and Oxford 
vigorously opposed the demands of the pe- 
titioners. Cambridge passed a law, June 9, 
1603, that whosoever in the university should 
openly oppose, by word or writing or any 
other way, the doctrine or discipline of the 
Church of England established by law, or any 
part thereof, should be suspended ipso facto 
from any degree already taken, and be dis- 
abled from taking any degree in the future. 
Oxford, "recompensing the slowness of her 
pace with the firmness of her footing," fol- 
lowed with "An Answer of the Vice-Chan- 
cellor, Doctors, Proctors, and other heads of 
Houses in the University of Oxford, to the 
Petition of the Ministers of the Church of 
England, desiring Reformation, dedicated to 
the King, with a Preface to the Archbishop, 
the Chancellors of both Universities, and the 
two Secretaries of State." A sharp attack, 
cleverly arranged. 

1 "Church History," Vol. Ill, p. 196. Nichols' Edition. 



Sowing and Reaping 129 

The upshot of the whole matter was that 
the king, not desiring, for political reasons, to 
break abruptly with his former friends, issued 
a proclamation, October 24, 1603, for a con- 
ference with the two parties, in which he de- 
clares that he is already persuaded that the 
Constitution of the Church of England is 
agreeable to God's Word and near to the 
condition of the Primitive Church; yet be- 
cause he had received information that some 
things in it were scandalous and gave offense, 
he appoints a meeting to be had before him- 
self and Council of divers bishops and other 
learned men, at which consultation he hoped 
to be better informed of the state of the 
Church, and whether there were any such 
enormities in it. This Conference, famous 
for having provided for a new translation of 
the Holy Scriptures — our present Authorized 
Version — met at Hampton Court, January 
14, 1603, and continued three days. On the 
side of the Church were nine bishops, names 
celebrated in that day and for all days — Whit- 
gift, Archbishop of Canterbury; Bancroft, of 
London; Matthew, of Durham; Bilson, of 
Winchester ; Babington, of Worcester ; Rudd, 
of St. David's ; Watson, of Chichester ; Robin- 
son, of Carlisle; and Dove, of Peterborough. 
9 



130 History of the Ritual 

Other dignitaries assisting were: Dr. An- 
drews, Dean of the Royal Chapel; Overall, 
Dean of St. Paul's; Barlow, Dean of Chester; 
Bridges, Dean of Salisbury; Field, Dean of 
Gloucester; King, Archdeacon of Notting- 
ham ; and the Deans of Worcester and Wind- 
sor. The Puritans were represented by only 
four ministers: Dr. John Reynolds, Dr. 
Thomas Sparks, Professor of Divinity in Ox- 
ford; Mr. Chadderton, and Mr. Knewstubbs, 
of Cambridge. 

The king acted as president, and evidently 
took great delight in exploiting his theolog- 
ical knowledge. It must be confessed that 
the Puritans appeared to poor advantage. 
From all the noise and turmoil they had occa- 
sioned in the preceding reign, the fierceness 
of their antipathy against the Prayer-book 
and Ritual, it would be supposed that when 
they had the opportunity they would expose 
in clearest manner and maintain with invin- 
cible argument the great apostasy of the 
Church from Scriptural teaching and primi- 
tive practice ; that they would be able to show 
the doctrinal errors of the Ritual, and to dem- 
onstrate to enlightened reason the utter use- 
lessness and incompatibility of the whole 
service, discipline, and government of the 



Sowing and Reaping 131 

Established Church with a genuine Protest- 
antism. But they did nothing of the kind. 
When sifted down, their grievances were few, 
feebly argued, and out of all proportion in 
number and character with the dust they had 
raised. The trouble with them, when stripped 
of all side issues, was simply this: they had 
assumed that Calvinism in doctrine, and 
Presbyterianism in government, were the only 
standards for any Church claiming to be 
Protestant. These standards they endeav- 
ored by every means to force upon the 
Church of England; but the Church, though 
Calvinistic, was becoming Arminian, and she 
resolutely declined to accept Calvin as her 
master in theology or as a reconstructor of 
her polity. The first day the king met the 
bishops only, and commanded them, as they 
would answer it to God in conscience and to 
himself upon their obedience, to consult 
among themselves whether there be any cor- 
ruptions in the doctrines, ceremonies, and 
discipline of the Church. He expressed some 
dissatisfaction with absolution given by the 
minister as savoring too much of the priestly 
pardon. He also objected to private baptism 
and baptism by women, and in compliance 
with his desires a few changes were made, 



132 History of the Ritual 

chiefly explanatory. On the second day the 
Puritan divines were admitted. The king, 
surrounded by his nobles and privy council- 
ors, opened the sitting, and there being two 
bishops and several deans present he bade the 
divines to state their objections against the 
Church and her Ritual. Dr. Reynolds came 
forward, and requested — 

1. That the doctrine of the Church might 
be preserved pure according to God's Word. 

2. That good pastors might be planted in 
all Churches to preach the same. 

3. That the Book of Common Prayer 
might be fitted to increase of piety. 

4. That Church government might be sin- 
cerely administered according to God's Word. 

As to the first, he desired that to the words 
in the Sixteenth Article of Religion, "After 
we have received the Holy Ghost we may 
depart from grace," there should be added 
these words, "neither totally nor -finally" in 
order to make them agree with the doctrine 
of predestination in the Seventeenth Article. 
That is, in addition to predestination the doc- 
trine of final perseverance should be riveted 
into the Articles of Religion, thereby remov- 
ing all doubt of the thoroughgoing Calvin- 
ism of the English formula of faith. But to 



Sowing and Reaping 133 

confine ourselves wholly to our specific theme 
under the third head relating to the Ritual 
in the Prayer-book, the objection urged this 
second day was the lack of harmony between 
Article of Religion Twenty-five and the Collect 
of Confirmation ; the propounding of questions 
to infants in baptism; the sign of the cross 
in baptism; the wearing of the surplice, and 
the words employed in the rite of matrimony, 
"with my body I thee worship" — an old Eng- 
lish term of endearment and honor, as the 
king himself pointed out. To these objec- 
tions, answers — some good, some weak — were 
made by the bishops and deans present, and 
the second day's conference came to an end, 
the king being much irritated by the frequent 
reference of Reynolds to the royal supremacy 
as being contrary to the freedom of the 
Church in her Synods. His Majesty ap- 
pointed the following Wednesday for the next 
conference, and "rising from his chair," says 
Cardwell, "as he was going to his inner cham- 
ber, 'If this be all,' quoth he, 'that they have 
to say, I shall make them conform themselves, 
or I will harrow them out of this land, or else 
do worse,' an evil remark which Puritan Eng- 
land did not forget when the head of James's 
son, Charles I, rolled from the block in White- 



134 History of the Ritual 

hall, the victim of his own and his father's 
folly. 

On Wednesday, January 18th, the Confer- 
ence again convened. The alterations which 
the bishops were willing to make in the Ritual 
as a concession to the Nonconformists were 
brought in, and submitted to the Puritan di- 
vines. Strange as it may seem, these divines 
gave their unanimous consent, objecting to 
nothing that was said or done, and promised 
to perform their duty to the bishops and to 
assist them against adversaries for the quiet 
of the Church. (Cardwell's Conferences.) 

The new Book of Common Prayer, 
changed as agreed, was published in March, 
its use being authorized by royal proclama- 
tion. But instead of Conference allaying 
the tempest, no sooner did the book appear 
than it was violently attacked by the Puritans, 
who repudiated the offices of the eminent men 
who had represented them before the king. 
The Puritans became more determined for the 
supremacy of Calvinism, the Established 
Church inclined gradually to Arminianism, 
and the differences religiously and politically 
widened every year. Finally the spirit of op- 
position became so strong that the king 
issued a proclamation in 1604, warning his 



Sowing and Reaping 135 

subjects not to listen "to the troublesome 
spirits of some persons who never receive con- 
tentment either in civil or ecclesiastical mat- 
ters, but in their own fantasies, especially 
certain ministers, who under pretended zeal 
of reformation are the chief authors of divis- 
ions and sects among our people.' , 

No further changes were made during the 
reign of James I. He died March 27, 1625, 
and on the same day, it being Sunday, his son 
was proclaimed King of England, under the 
title of Charles the First. 

On the accession of Charles I no attempt 
was made to amend the Liturgy. But the 
seeds of discontent, of intolerance, and also 
of progress, which had been sown in former 
years, could not but spring up and bear fruit. 
Moreover, the age was maturing for great 
revolutions. The young kings of the most 
powerful nations in Europe had surrendered 
the management of their kingdoms to their 
ministers, and it was impossible that the peace 
of mankind could be long preserved while 
such men as Olivarez in Spain, Richelieu in 
France, and Buckingham in England, con- 
trolled the destinies of the world. The religio- 
political party in England, called Puritans, 
associated republicanism of a peculiar kind 



136 History of the Ritual 

with Calvinism, while the prelates of the 
Church, who stood for the prerogatives of 
the crown and were inconveniently loyal in 
their attachments to the Church, adopted Ar- 
minianism, which was then making heroic 
battle with the horrible tenets of Genevan the- 
ology. Thus politics clashed with politics, 
and religion with religion. The profligate 
Duke of Buckingham became the king's fa- 
vorite; the vindictive, ambitious, and intoler- 
ant Laud, small in talent but great in devo- 
tion to the king, became his chaplain and the 
pilot of the Church as Archbishop of Canter- 
bury. Hume has depicted Laud in dark col- 
ors, and Hallam can only say of him: 
"Though not literally destitute of religion, it 
was so subordinate to worldly interest and so 
blended in his mind with the impure alloy of 
temporal pride, that he became an intolerant 
persecutor of the Puritan clergy, not from 
bigotry, which in its usual sense he never 
displayed, but systematic policy." And Ma- 
caulay thus describes him: "The mean fore- 
head, the pinched features, the peering eyes 
of the prelate, suited admirably with his dis- 
position. They mark him out as a lower kind 
of Saint Dominic, differing from the fierce and 
gloomy enthusiast who founded the Inqui- 



Sowing and Reaping 137 

sition, as we might imagine the familiar imp 
of a spiteful witch to differ from an arch- 
angel of darkness." * Carlyle also thrusts him 
through, calling him "little Dr. Laud," as if 
he had anything to be proud of in his dys- 
peptic constitution! The other side is pre- 
sented not without spirit and some little show 
of proof. "Before the archbishop's imprison- 
ment," says Lathbury, "the Presbyterians 
labored to damage his reputation; and after 
his death their hireling writers justified the 
enormous crime. Succeeding writers, who 
could not justify the act of putting him to 
death, have endeavored to palliate it by paint- 
ing the prelate in the most odious colors. But 
their assertions have led to a more careful 
examination of his character, as well as a 
more minute investigation of the events of 
the period, and the result is most satisfactory." 
The inadequate supplies voted by the Com- 
mons astonished and humiliated the king. 
The growth of popery and Laud's High 
Churchism alarmed the Puritans, and a de- 
mand was made for a strict enforcement of 
the penal laws against the Roman Catholics. 
Unfortunate events, in the management of 



iMacaulay is mistaken. Dominic was dead ten years be- 
fore the Inquisition was established. 



138 History of the Ritual 

which Charles exercised little judgment, 
brought the court into unnecessary conflict 
with the rugged elements of the nation, now 
dangerously conscious of their power. Rich- 
ard Montague, one of the king's chaplains, 
had published a book in the days of James I, 
which caused his arrest and appearance before 
the bar of the House, and he was prohibited 
from such writing in the future. Montague, 
misinterpreting the spirit of the times, gave 
no heed to the inhibition laid on him by the 
Commons, nor to the admonition of the arch- 
bishop, but published another book, entitled 
"An Appeal to Caesar," and, James being 
dead, dedicated it to King Charles. The au- 
thor was again arrested. The Commons de- 
cided that the book was a defense of Armin- 
ianism, and an attempt to reconcile the 
Church of England to Rome, and fined the 
enthusiastic but indiscreet chaplain in the sum 
of two thousand pounds. Archbishop Laud 
imagined that this act of the Commons was 
an attack upon the rights and character of 
the Church, and through the influence of 
Buckingham enlisted the sympathy of the 
king. Unadvisedly enough, the king yielded 
to the influence of his favorite, and expressed 
his displeasure against the Commons for their 



Sowing and Reaping 139 

ill-treatment of his chaplain. When the 
House met again in February, 1626, it was 
in no pliable mood. A Committee on Re- 
ligious Affairs was appointed, and Montague's 
case was again taken up; but the king inter- 
fered, took the cause into his own hands, and 
dissolved the Parliament. 

Thus matters went from bad to worse. 
Laud would never have led the Church back 
to Rome; but, true to his principles, he de- 
fended every act and writing which gave the 
Church the character of what in these days 
would be denominated High Churchism, of 
which, indeed, he was the father, and in the 
pursuit of his policy he persecuted with sever- 
ity the Presbyterian or Puritan party. Baf- 
fled in their attempts to Genevanize the 
Church, the Puritans exalted every opposition 
to established authority into a struggle for 
liberty against arbitrary power, and persuaded 
themselves that they alone were the chosen of 
God for the preservation of religious truth. 
Extremes begat extremes. The court, with 
the hierarchy, being blindly antagonistic to 
the temper of the times, and needlessly re- 
sisting the efforts of the nation to defend itself 
against the encroachments of kingly power, 
struggled to maintain its autocracy by des- 



Ho History of the Ritual 

potic measures, and thus, instead of guiding 
with steady hand the Ship of State, aroused 
and intensified the bitter and relentless hos- 
tility of a liberty-loving people. To the Puri- 
tans England owes her liberties. Parliament, 
which was wholly in the hands of the Puri- 
tans, signified its opposition to the king by 
refusing to grant supplies necessary to his 
foreign policy ; and it manifested its antipathy 
for the Church by well-directed attacks upon 
the pretensions of the hierarchy. 

In 1640, Convocation, contrary to custom, 
continued to sit, although Parliament was dis- 
solved, and granted supplies to the king from 
the revenues of the Church. New Canons 
were framed, and fearful of the innovations 
which had taken place in the Scottish Church, 
an oath was imposed on the clergy and on 
the graduates of the universities, by which 
they were sworn "to maintain the established 
government of the Church, by archbishops, 
bishops, deans, archdeacons, etc." No one 
who had conscientiously assumed the minis- 
terial office in the Established Church could 
honestly object to the evident intent of the 
oath; but the form of the oath was as mis- 
chievous as it was ridiculous, "and such was 
the humor of the times that the abbreviation 



Sowing and Reaping 141 

"etc." was taken to cover many needless 
offices and many insidious meanings, and it 
was immediately branded throughout the 
kingdom as the "et cetera oath." When the 
Long Parliament met, it declared the Acts of 
Convocation null and void, impeached Arch- 
bishop Laud, sent him to the Tower, and 
thence to execution. The spirit of the peo- 
ple went beyond the intent of the Commons. 
Everywhere the clergy were attacked and 
grossly insulted. Bishops, deans, and emi- 
nent divines were prosecuted on one charge 
or another, and deprived of their livings. At 
Lambeth the remains of Archbishop Parker, 
the first archbishop of the English Church 
under Queen Elizabeth, were taken out of his 
coffin and buried in a dunghill. 1 

Churches were rilled by mobs, defiled with 
garbage, converted into stables and barracks, 
communion tables were broken, and the rail- 
ings placed about them destroyed; parsons, 
vicars, and curates were forbidden to intro- 
duce rites and ceermonies that gave offense 
to the anti-Episcopal party; and when the 
bishops, with Williams, the Archbishop of 
York, at their head, addressed a protest to 
the king and House of Lords, to the effect 

1 Southey's " Book of the Church," pp. 472-3. 



142 History of the Ritual 

that because of the danger to their lives by 
the ungovernable multitude they could not 
attend to their duties in the House, and there- 
fore protested against all laws inimical to the 
Church during their enforced absence, they 
were impeached by the House of Commons 
for high treason, deprived the House, and 
committed to custody, no one daring to utter 
a word in their defense. Never was the na- 
tion so profoundly stirred. Charles and his 
advisers had, Ajax-like, defied the lightning, 
and now the pent-up wrath of a people moved 
to the deepest depths, as only religious ani- 
mosity can move, was upon them. Deaf to 
all warnings they had swept onward to the 
Niagara, whose awful thunder now drowned 
their futile cries. The Episcopacy and the 
Liturgy were put on trial at the bar of the 
nation. "The debates in Parliament," says 
Neal, "concerning the English Liturgy and 
hierarchy engaged the attention of the whole 
nation, and revived the controversy without 
doors. Books and pamphlets attacking and 
defending both the Liturgy and the Episco- 
pacy fell thick and fast from the press, pe- 
titions flowed into Parliament requesting the 
abolition of the Episcopal order ; counter pe- 
titions were presented setting forth the rea- 



Sowing and Reaping 143 

sons why it should be continued and pre- 
served 'notwithstanding the abuses and 
corruptions which in so long a tract of time 
have crept into it.' " The debates in Parlia- 
ment continued, the Root-and-Branch party, 
as it was called, at whose head was Sir Henry 
Vane, demanding nothing less than the total 
extirpation of the Episcopacy. The greater 
number of the Puritans in the House at this 
time were not in favor, however, of going be- 
yond a reformation of the hierarchy; but on 
May 20, 1 641, a bill was brought in by Sir 
Edward Deering providing for the extinction 
of the whole Episcopal Order. This, too, 
after much debate was dropped for the pres- 
ent, and the House turned its attention to the 
abolition of deans and chapters. 

Following this a committee was appointed 
to consider what innovations had been made 
in religion since the Reformation, and by ne- 
cessity the Prayer-book and Ordinal were 
brought to the front. This committee be- 
came the celebrated Assembly of Divines — 
the Westminster Assembly — a company com- 
posed of Independents, Erastians, Presbyte- 
rians, and Moderate Episcopalians. Fatality 
blinded the judgments of the bishops in every 
step they took. Had they been less insistent, 



144 History of the Ritual 

as they could have been without hurt to con- 
science, upon their opinions, the evils which 
crowded upon each other rapidly might have 
been averted; but they would abate nothing 
of their claims. The result was the abolition 
of Episcopacy, the assertion of the Divine 
right of Presbytery, and the tragical execu- 
tion of the king. In 1645, Parliament, by 
special ordinance, abolished the Book of 
Prayer, and decreed in its stead a Directory 
for Public Worship. Again, in August this 
same year, another law was passed forbid- 
ding the use of the book in any private place 
or family, and all copies of it found in churches 
were to be delivered up under severe penalty. 
Thus ends another chapter in the history 
of this remarkable book, the history of which 
is so closely interwoven with the history of 
the kings and queens, Parliaments, and 
Churches and Christian forces of Modern 
England. It must be evident to every 
thoughtful reader that such an unnatural con- 
dition of religious affairs as we have just de- 
scribed could not continue long. Some time 
before the execution of Charles I, the Puri- 
tans had broken up into various and antago- 
nizing camps. The Presbyterians were op- 
posed to the Independents, and the Anabap- 



Sowing and Reaping 145 

tist elements were antagonistic to all others, 
and despised by all. Reaction from the vio- 
lence of the civil war and the fierce enmity 
against the Church gradually set in. "Hence," 
says Cardwell in his "History of Confer- 
ences," "there was in these ordinances, and 
in the measures they occasioned, something 
so offensive to the consciences of many devout 
persons, so tyrannical in the estimate of rea- 
sonable men, and so profane in the licentious- 
ness of public worship, which followed as their 
natural consequences, that as soon as the 
Presbyterian feeling began to subside, the 
wish for a prescribed Ritual returned with 
additional strength, and the prohibited Lit- 
urgy was regarded with a degree of veneration 
such as is felt for a saint who had suffered 
martyrdom," which is another evidence in 
proof of the truth often ignored, that those 
institutions alone survive all changes which, 
rooted deep in historic soil, demonstrate their 
right to exist by supplying a need of the hu- 
man heart in every age, because out of such 
need they originally sprung. 
10 



Chapter VI 

RESTORATION 

Charles II, A. D. 1660 — William of Orange, A. D. 1688 

The people of England could not long en- 
dure the uncertain government which Crom- 
well had forced upon them, and which was 
radically opposed to, wholly out of harmony 
with, their national instincts. The millennium 
had not followed the decapitation of mon- 
archy, and Charles II having given assurance 
of pardon for the execution of his father to 
such as sought the royal clemency, and that 
full tolerance of diverse opinions in matters 
religious would be granted, excepting such 
as would be detrimental to the peace of the 
State, the House of Commons declared that 
"the government of this kingdom is, and 
ought to be, by kings, lords, and Commons." 
His Majesty, Charles II, was therefore invited 
to return to his kingdom, and on May 26th 
he landed at Dover, and journeyed in triumph 
to London. 

While the king was at Breda, in Holland, 
pending the final preparation for his return, 
146 



Restoration 147 



the Presbyterian ministers of London sent 
over a Commission, of the most notable names 
among them, with an address to the king, in 
which, says Lord Clarendon, they professed 
great affection for His Majesty, and declared 
themselves "full of zeal for the peace of the 
Church and the State, and neither enemies, 
as they have been given out to be, to Epis- 
copacy or Liturgy; but modestly desired such 
alterations in either as, without shaking foun- 
dations, might best allay the present distem- 
pers, which the indisposition of the time and 
the tenderness of some men's consciences had 
contracted.'' * The Commissioners were gra- 
ciously received, and assurance was given 
them of the royal intention to relieve the con- 
science of all who scrupled to comply with 
the established religion; but that the extent 
of toleration would be determined by the two 
Houses of Parliament. Emboldened by the 
success of their mission, by the royal decla- 
ration in favor of religious liberty, and desir- 
ous, probably, of gaining some further advan- 
tage, they ventured to entreat the king not to 
use the Book of Common Prayer in his 
chapel — that it had long been out of use, and 
that the people were now familiar with an- 

1 Cardwell, "Conferences," p. 244. 



148 History of the Ritual 

other form of worship This attempt to sug- 
gest kingly compliance with the acts of the 
Rump Parliament which had outlawed Prayer- 
book and Ritual was construed as a presump- 
tion, and Charles replied with some warmth, 
"that while he gave them liberty, he would 
not have his own taken away. That he had 
always used that form of service which he 
thought the best in the world, and had never 
discontinued it in places where it was more 
disliked than he hoped it was by them. That 
when he came into England he should not 
severely inquire how it was used in other 
Churches; but he would have no other used 
in his own chapel." 

When the king reached his palace at 
Whitehall, the Liturgy was restored in the 
Royal Chapel, in many of the Churches in the 
city, and in a few days after the two Houses 
of Parliament decreed that prayers should be 
said before them as in former times, for it was 
assumed by the loyalists that with the pass- 
ing of the Long Parliament all enactments 
that had not received the royal assent were 
null and void. The Dissenters were now in 
bad straits. The once demolished Church was 
risen in triumph from her ruins. The day of 
the Dissenter had passed. In order, therefore, 



Restoration 149 



to bring about some accommodation between 
themselves and the Established Church, the 
Puritans offered to make important conces- 
sions, such concessions, indeed, as would be 
regarded at the present time as utterly incom- 
patible with the spirit and principles of Pres- 
byterian teaching. They offered to accept 
Archbishop Usher's model of Primitive Epis- 
copacy, which, as every student knows, is 
essentially Methodistic. They also offered to 
set aside the Westminster Confession of Faith, 
and to accept in lieu thereof the Thirty-nine 
Articles of the Church of England, with a few 
amendments. 1 In June several of the leading 
divines among the Presbyterians, all eminent 
for sound learning — Mr. Calamy, Dr. Rey- 
nolds, Mr. Ashe, the celebrated Richard Bax- 
ter, Dr. Wallis, Dr. Manton, and Dr. Spur- 
stow — waited on the king, and presented to 
him an address containing proposals for rec- 
onciling Church differences. The objections 
they urged against existing evils were stated 
with clearness and moderation, and the reme- 
dies they proposed were both wise and con- 
servative. "Respecting Liturgy and cere- 
monies, these representative Presbyterian 
divines expressed themselves," says Neal, the 



1 Cardwell, I^athbury, Collier as before. 



150 History of the Ritual 

historian of the Puritans, "in the following 
manner : 

" We are satisfied in our judgment concerning the 
lawfulness of a Liturgy or form of worship, provided 
it be for matter agreeable to the Word of God and 
suited to the several ordinances and necessities of 
the Church ; neither too tedious, nor composed of 
too short prayers or responses, nor dissonant from 
the Liturgies of other reformed Churches, nor too 
rigorously imposed, nor the minister confined thereto, 
but that he may also make use of his gifts of prayer 
and exhortation. 

" Forasmuch as the Book of Common Prayer is 
in some things justly offensive, and needs amend- 
ment, we most humbly pray that some learned, 
godly, moderate divines of both persuasions may be 
employed to compile such a form as is herebefore 
described as much as may be in Scripture words, or 
at least revise and reform the old, together with an 
addition of other various forms in Scripture phrase, 
to be used at the ministers' choice. 

" Concerning ceremonies : we hold ourselves 
obliged, in every part of Divine worship, to do all 
things decently and in order and to edification, and 
are willing to be determined by authority in such 
things as being merely circumstantial or common to 
human actions and societies, are to be ordered by 
the light of nature and human prudence." 

From a comparison of these concessions 
and demands, which may be read in full in the 
authorities I have mentioned — Neal's "His- 



Restoration 151 



tory of the Puritans," Cardwell's "Confer- 
ences" — it will be observed that had these 
concessions and demands been accepted and 
agreed to, the Church of England would have 
become in many respects what the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church is now in polity and 
worship. What these Presbyterians con- 
ceded concerning Episcopacy, Wesley put 
into practice; and what they conceded rela- 
tive to Liturgy and ceremonial, and demanded 
concerning revision of the Prayer-book, 
which, it is understood, contained also the 
Ritual for Ordinations and other occasions, 
Wesley carried out when providing the 
Church in America with a suitable form for 
Sunday service and for the decent celebration 
of sacred rites. 

The address pleased the king, who ex- 
pressed his gratification on hearing their ac- 
quiescence in a Liturgy, and that they were 
willing in their agreement to accept Arch- 
bishop Usher's views of Church government 
to yield the essence of Episcopacy. But in- 
stead of the bishops coming forward with 
their proposals, as was expected by the Pres- 
byterians, they drew up a formal reply to the 
Address, which they communicated to the 
ministers in July. This was disappointing. 



152 History of the Ritual 

Nevertheless, the upshot of the whole matter 
was, that the king issued "A Declaration," 
which seemed to concede all that had been 
demanded. This greatly pleased the Presby- 
terians, and many of them accepted appoint- 
ments in the Church, some of them being 
made bishops. 

According to the declaration, the king, on 
the 25th March, 1661, issued his warrant ap- 
pointing the Commission. This body was 
equally divided in its composition between the 
two parties, and it was required to meet at 
Savoy, in the jurisdiction of the Bishop of 
London. The purpose of the Commission, 
was "to review the Book of Common Prayer, 
comparing it with the most ancient and purest 
Liturgies." The Commission met April 15th. 
It was soon apparent that little good would 
be accomplished. The bishops insisted upon 
one method of procedure, the divines upon 
another. Moreover, the Presbyterians were 
divided among themselves. Some were in 
favor of a few important demands, hoping to 
obtain more when the desired union was com- 
pleted. Others, and they were in the major- 
ity, insisted, under the aggressive leadership 
of Richard Baxter, upon demanding the ut- 
most possible. Mr. Baxter himself acted on 



Restoration 153 



this principle, and instead of keeping before 
him the fact that the Prayer-book was to be 
amended, and not a new one made, and as 
amended to be the book in future for the 
Church, and instead of presenting amend- 
ments or composing prayers which might be 
inserted in the proper place, he set himself to 
compose an entirely new Liturgy, and had, 
moreover, the boldness to offer that produc- 
tion as a substitute for the book that was to 
be revised. Richard Baxter was a divine as 
talented as he was pious, and that is praise 
sufficient for the author of "The Saints' Ever- 
lasting Rest," a book which has brought rest 
to many thousands of troubled hearts. As 
might have been most naturally expected, the 
presentation of this brand-new Liturgy, com- 
posed in fourteen days and without any re- 
gard for the whole venerable Christian past, 
as a substitute for the Liturgy and Ritual 
which had been used by the Church for a hun- 
dred years, and portions of it for a thousand 
years, gave great offense, and belittled the 
complaints of the Presbyterians. It is no 
wonder that Mr. Baxter's new Liturgy was 
rejected without examination. 

The Conference was to sit for four months ; 
but its sessions degenerated into unseemly 



154 History of the Ritual 

debates, each worse in spirit, purpose, and re- 
sult than the one preceding, until July 25th, 
when this grave and reverend body adjourned 
without any prospect of agreement. The 
bishops did not consider that they had any 
special report to make in writing; but the 
Presbyterians set forth an account of the pro- 
ceedings and the debates, and sought to ob- 
tain by petition from the king what was denied 
them by the prelates. 

The Savoy Assembly having thus ended, 
Charles II commanded Convocation, which 
was then in session, November 20th, to review 
the Book of Common Prayer. The Bishops 
of Durham, Ely, Oxford, Rochester, Salis- 
bury, Lincoln, and Gloucester proceeded at 
once to the work of revision. So industrious 
were these learned and devoted men that, on 
the 20th of December, 1661, the book, as re- 
vised, was adopted and subscribed by both 
Houses of Convocation of the two provinces, 
Canterbury and York. In April, 1662, it re- 
ceived the sanction of Parliament. It is not 
necessary to note the various alterations 
which were made in this revision, since the 
Methodist Episcopal Church does not use that 
book, but that book further revised by Wes- 
ley and her General Conferences. But one 



Restoration 155 



important change must be carefully observed, 
because of its doctrinal and historical interest. 
It is that change which was made in the form 
used in the consecration of bishops and priests 
or presbyters. Elsewhere in this work, and 
in my "Historic Episcopate," I have shown 
that the Reformers and founders of the 
Church of England did neither believe nor 
teach that there were three separate and dis- 
tinct orders in the Christian ministry by Di- 
vine right; that is, by Divine command or 
institution — although in harmony with Chris- 
tian history they did admit such order jure 
humano, and provided for the continuance of 
the same as a form of government best suited 
to the Church of England, and proved to be 
the best for the cause of religion by the prac- 
tice of the Church from the remotest times. 
Not until A. D. 1661 was there any express, 
definite assertion of distinction between bish- 
ops and presbyters as to order. In opposition 
to the Presbyterian claim of the divine right 
of Presbytery, Dr. Bancroft asserted the divine 
right of Episcopacy in a sermon preached at 
St. Paul's, February 9, 1589; but it was not 
till 1 661 that the distinction was made offi- 
cially by the Church of England, "and this," 
says Blunt in his "Annotations on the Book 



156 History of the Ritual 

of Common Prayer" — a standard authority — 
"was done by the addition of the words in the 
Preface to the Ordinal, 'Episcopal consecra- 
tion or ordination,'' and 'every man which is 
to be ordained or consecrated bishop,' and in 
the heading form of 'ordaining or consecrating 
a bishop,' although previously implied in the 
Preface, which speaks of 'these orders of min- 
isters in Christ's Church, bishops, priests, and 
deacons/ It was not until the close of the 
sixteenth century that the distinction between 
the orders of bishops and priests was as- 
serted." This unpalatable fact is unwelcome 
truth to many, for while the Reformers, in the 
Preface to the Ordinal of Edward VI, ex- 
pressed their godly judgment solely with re- 
spect to the needs of the Church of England, 
and that these orders were recognized in the 
Christian Church from the days of the apos- 
tles, not by Divine right, but by human right, 
and while they refrained from declaring that 
Episcopal ordination is essential by Divine 
command to a valid ministry — which declara- 
tion their writings and fellowship with non- 
Episcopal Churches in Germany, Switzerland, 
and Holland abundantly prove they did not 
believe — they did not carry out these distinc- 
tions in the Ordinal itself, which they com- 



Restoration 157 



piled, in the all-important, vitally-essential 
words of consecration, as was now done for 
the first time by the Laudian bishops of 
Charles II. On the contrary, the selections 
of Scripture which are now cited in the Ordi- 
nal and in theologic writings as proof of the 
Episcopal order, and are nozv read exclusively 
at the ordination of bishops, were those very 
self-same Scriptures which the Reformers 
placed in the Ordinal of 1549 for the ordain- 
ing of priests or presbyters. In 1662 these 
Scriptures were taken from the ordering of 
priests, and placed in the service for the con- 
secration of bishops. In the Ordinal of 1549 
the words of consecration of a priest were: 

"Receive the Holy Ghost. Whose sins thou dost for- 
give, they are forgiven ; and whose sins thou dost re- 
tai?i, they are retained; a?id be thou a faithful dis- 
penser of the words of God and of his holy sacra?nents. 
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen." 

The form of consecrating a bishop was : 

" Take the Holy Ghost, and remember that thou stir 
up the gift of God which is in thee by the imposition of 
hands ; for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, 
but of power and love a?id of soberness." 

It was therefore pointed out by the con- 
troversialists of those days that in these forms 



158 History of the Ritual 

there was no mention of the order to which 
the person had been ordained, which, it was 
argued, was essential to the validity of the 
consecration, since it could not be told from 
the words of consecration to what order or 
to what function the person had been conse- 
crated. There was no mention of the func- 
tions of a bishop beyond an allusion to govern, 
to instruct, etc., which might be said to any 
shepherd of the sheep, the words "to ordain" 
not being in the Ordinal till the change was 
made in 1662. These defects were utilized 
with effect against the exclusive claims of the 
High Church party, and are yet; for if the 
forms in the Ordinal of Edward VI were suffi- 
cient, then the Convocation of 1662 did an 
unwise act in changing those forms; and if 
they were not sufficient, the change came one 
hundred years too late for Episcopal succes- 
sion. The nature of the change may be seen 
by comparing the above form of the Ordinal 
of 1549 with the following form made by Con- 
vocation of 1662, which is: 

" Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work oj 
a bishop in the Church of God, committed unto thee by 
the imposition of our hands, in the ?iame of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And remem- 
ber that thou stir up the grace of God which is," etc. 



Restoration 159 



On May 19th, an Act for the Uniform- 
ity of Public Prayer, and Administra- 
tion of Sacraments, and other Rites and 
Ceremonies, and for Establishing the 
Forms of Making, Ordaining, and Con- 
secrating Bishops, Priests, and Deacons 
in the Church of England, received the 
royal assent, was prefixed to the Book of 
Prayer, and the book, as thus amended, be- 
came, by Act of Parliament, Stat. 13 and 14, 
Car. II, c. 4, the only lawful service-book in 
the kingdom. The name Puritan was now 
changed into that of Noncomformist, a ge- 
neric term including Presbyterians, Independ- 
ents, Brownists (Congregationalists), Ana- 
baptists, and Quakers. 

King Charles II died February 6, 1685, and 
was succeeded by his brother, James II, an 
avowed Romanist. It was not long before 
this king became embroiled with the bishops, 
and found friends, as might be expected — 
though he was an enemy to the Reforma- 
tion — among the Nonconformists. But in his 
wily efforts to play off one party against the 
other for his own ends he was crushed by 
both, and, after a short and inglorious reign, 
fled the country. He was the last of the male 
line of the House of Stuart. 



Chapter VII 

TRANSITION 

William of Orange, A. D. 1688 — Christmas Conference, 
A. D. 1784 

During the reign of William, Prince of 
Orange, and his consort Mary, daughter of 
the royal exile James II, no change was made 
in the Liturgy, although an attempt at re- 
vision was made in 1689. On coming to the 
throne, the Prince of Orange had promised 
in a declaration that he would use his best 
endeavor to bring about a good agreement 
between the Church of England and all Prot- 
estant Dissenters, a promise which he now 
desired to fulfill. 

On the 13th September, 1689, a Commis- 
sion was given to ten bishops and twenty 
divines, requiring them to prepare alterations 
for the Liturgy and Canons. The commis- 
sioners, among whom will be found several 
famous names, were the Archbishop of York, 
the Bishops of London, Winchester, Roch- 
ester, Carlisle, St. Asaph, Exeter, Salisbury, 
Bangor, and Chester; Drs. Sprat, Smith, 
160 



Transition 161 



Compton, Mew, Sharp, Loyd, Stratford, Bur- 
net, Humphreys, Patrick, Stillingfleet, Tillot- 
son, Kidder, Sir Jonathan Trelawney, Drs. 
Megott, Aldrich, Jane, Hall, Beaumont, Mon- 
tague, Goodman, Batteley, Alston, Beveridge, 
Tenison, Grove, Fowler, Scott, and Williams. 
This body of learned men were not only to 
revise the Liturgy, but also to consider such 
other matters as would be helpful to the policy 
of reconciliation. It is therefore of great in- 
terest, which will be fully appreciated by the 
intelligent student of Methodism, to note the 
concessions which these bishops and repre- 
sentative divines of the Church of England 
were willing to make. It is not necessary, 
however, to mention more than one or two as 
bearing on the subject before us. Dr. Tillot- 
son, afterward archbishop, drew up a paper 
setting forth the concessions which would be 
offered, among which were these : 

"i. That the ceremonies enjoined or recom- 
mended in the Liturgy or Canons be left indifferent. 

" 2. That the Liturgy be reviewed, etc. 

"3. That for the future those who have been or- 
dained in any of the foreign reformed Churches be 
not required to be reordained here to render them 
capable of preferment in this Church. 

" 4. That, for the future, none be capable of any 
ecclesiastical benefice or preferment in the Church 



162 History of the Ritual 

of England that shall be ordained in England other- 
wise than by bishops, and that those who have been 
ordained only by presbyters shall not be compelled 
to renounce their former ordinations." 

Many other concessions and proposals 
were made in writing by these eminent men, 
such as the substitution of the word "min- 
ister" for "priest," all of which would have 
made the Church of England almost precisely 
in belief and practice identical with Episcopal 
Methodism. It will be clearly seen that the 
Methodist Church has done nothing that the 
Church of England was not willing to do. 
The concessions relating to ordination com- 
pletely justify Wesley's ordination of Dr. 
Coke, and it is fully evident that the Episco- 
pacy of Methodism and its Ritual would have 
been cordially, indorsed by these bishops had 
Episcopal Methodism been in the place of the 
non-Episcopal Dissenters. The bishops of the 
Church of England were willing to recognize 
the orders of the foreign Reformed Churches, 
as did the early Reformers, which Churches 
had deacons, presbyters, and superintendents, 
or, as we would say, bishops, to which order 
even Calvin did not object, providing, as we 
provide, that it was not affirmed to be of Di- 
vine origin and command. But Episcopal 



Transition 163 



Methodism has the same orders, and of the 
same validity, as those Reformed Churches 
and of the Church of England itself, and it 
can not, therefore, be denied that between the 
Methodist Episcopal Church and the Church 
of England — as that Church was under Ed- 
ward VI, and as her bishops in the reign of 
William and Mary were willing she should 
become — there would be in respect to gov- 
ernment and worship no great difference. 

To those who regard the visible unity of 
Christendom as the New Testament norm, it 
must be a cause of ever-recurring regret that 
the work of this Commission resulted in noth- 
ing. Schism reared its hissing crest in the 
Church. Jacobin and anti-Jacobin divided 
public attention, and distracted the thought 
of the nation. The archbishop and several 
bishops refused to transfer their allegiance to 
the Prince of Orange, and so disturbed be- 
came the religious atmosphere that many who 
had advocated the concessions now withdrew 
them. Thus the beautiful dream of a united 
Church in the kingdom of England faded 
away. The Liturgy was not revised, and it 
has remained to this day as it was in the reign 
of Charles II. 

But in 1784, the Rev. John Wesley, a 



164 History of the Ritual 

presbyter in the Church of England, com- 
pleted a revision of the Book of Common 
Prayer and Ordinal for the use of the Meth- 
odist Church in the United States. The re- 
vision by Wesley was thorough, unequivo- 
cally in line with evangelical belief, and very 
similar to the second Service-book of Edward 
VI. He had full knowledge of the contro- 
versies concerning the book from the begin- 
ning, and was competent, as one of the most 
learned divines of his age, to eliminate from 
it all that, with proper interpretation, could 
give offense to a reasonable Christian having 
any regard for decency and order in the 
Church of God, and to adapt it to needs of a 
people who were not to be Presbyterians, nor 
Brownists, nor Congregationalists, nor Inde- 
pendents, nor Anabaptists, but an Episcopal 
Church, animated by an evangelical spirit, and 
having, through the Church of England, an 
uderlying essential unity in orders, worship, 
and faith with the Church of the ages. 

It will not be inferred from this that Wesley 
mutilated in any degree the Liturgy book of 
the English Church. He made no greater 
changes than the bishops and divines of that 
Church were willing to make in the reign of 
William of Orange. In a letter written in 



Transition 165 



1789 he says: "Dr. Coke made two or three 
little alterations in the Prayer-book without 
my knowledge. I took particular care 
throughout to alter nothing merely for alter- 
ing's sake. In religion I am for as few inno- 
vations as possible. I love the old wine best. 
And if it were only on this account, I prefer 
'Which' before 'Who art in heaven,' " and in 
many places throughout his Journal there is 
ample proof of his devotion to the historic 
Book whose history we have here briefly 
traced. For the word "Priest" he substituted 
the better, because truer, word "Minister," or 
"Elder," and for the word "Bishop" the word 
"Superintendent," as Bishop Poynet, in the 
reign of Edward VI, proposed; not that he 
was opposed to Episcopacy, but to the asso- 
ciations which had gathered about the term 
Bishop in the long conflict between Puritan 
and Churchman. Never in a single instance 
is the word Priest used to designate a Chris- 
tian minister in the New Testament. This 
silence is all the more significant when it is 
remembered that never before the days of the 
apostles in all the mountain range of centuries 
did any one ever hear of a religion without a 
visible priesthood, and yet neither the apostles 
nor their disciples did ever designate a Chris- 



1 66 History of the Ritual 

tian minister as a priest. Professor Lightfoot, 
in an excursus on the Christian ministry ap- 
pended to his Commentary on Philippians, 
affirms the same fact, and says that the term 
was brought in at the close of the second cen- 
tury from paganism. Hooker, perhaps the 
most celebrated writer in the annals of the 
Church of England, was of the same opinion 
in his day, and for the word "Elder" or "Pres- 
byter" as a substitute for "Priest," he says, 
"In truth the word Presbyter doth seem more 
fit, and in propriety of speech more agreeable, 
than Priest, with the drift of the whole Gospel 
of Jesus Christ." And "The Holy Ghost 
throughout the body of the New Testament 
making so much mention of them [ministers], 
doth not anywhere call them Priests." ("Eccl. 
Polity," Book V, p. 78. Oxford Edition.) 
The revised Liturgy and Ordinal being 
ready, it was brought over by Dr. Coke, and 
was adopted by the preachers at the organ- 
ization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
in the Christmas Conference of A. D. 1784. 
The title-page of the book reads : 

The Sunday Service of the Methodists 

in North America, 

With Other Occasional Services. 

London. 

Printed in the Year MDCCLXXXIV. 



Transition 167 



The contents of the book after the Tables 
of Proper Lessons are : 

1. The order for morning prayer every Lord's- 
day. (Pp. 26-27). 

2. The order for evening prayer every Lord's-day. 
(Pp. 14-19O 

3. The Litany. (Pp. 20-26.) 

4. A prayer and thanksgiving to be read every 
Lord's-day. (Pp. 26-27.) 

5. The Collects, Epistles, and Gospels to be used 
throughout the year. (Pp. 27-124.) 

6. The order for the administration of the Lord's 
Supper. (Pp. 125-139.) 

7. The ministration of baptism of infants. (Pp. 
I39-I43-) 

8. The ministration of baptism to such as are of 
riper years. (Pp. 143-149.) 

9. The form of solemnization of matrimony. 
(Pp. I49-I55-) 

10. The communion of the sick. (Pp. 155, 156.) 

11. The order for the burial of the dead. (Pp # 
156-161.) 

12. Select Psalms. (Pp. 162-279.) 

13. The form and manner of making and ordaining 
of superintendents, elders, and deacons. (Pp. 2S0- 
305.) 

(a) The form and manner of making deacons. 
(<$) The form and manner of ordaining elders. 
(c) The form of ordaining a superintendent. 

14. Articles of religion (twenty-four in number). 
(Pp. 306-314.) 



168 History of the Ritual 

The Preface to the book is as follows : 

11 1 believe there is no Liturgy in the world, either 
in ancient or modern language, which breathes more 
of solid, Scriptural, rational piety than the Common 
Prayer of the Church of England ; and though the 
main of it was compiled considerably more than two 
hundred years ago, yet is the language of it not only 
pure, but strong and elegant in the highest degree. 

" Little alteration is made in the following edi- 
tion of it, except in the following instances : 

" Most of the holy days (so-called) are omitted 
as at present answering no valuable end. 

"2. The service of the Lord's-day, the length of 
which has often been complained of, is considerably 
shortened. 

" 3. Some sentences in the offices of baptism and 
for the burial of the dead, are omitted ; and 

" 4. Many Psalms left out, and many parts of 
the others, as being highly improper for the mouths 
of a Christian congregation. John Wesi^y." 

"Bristol, September 9, 1784." 

As to the adoption of the Liturgy by the 
Christmas Conference, Bishop Asbury states: 
"It was agreed to form ourselves into an Epis- 
copal Church, and to have superintendents, 
elders, and deacons." Whatcoat says: "We 
agreed to form a Methodist Episcopal Church, 
in which the Liturgy (as presented by the Rev. 
John Wesley) should be read, and the sacra- 
ments be administered by a superintendent, 



Transition 169 



elders, and deacons, who shall be ordained by 
a Presbytery, using the Episcopal form as pre- 
scribed in the Rev. John Wesley's Prayer- 
book." The Discipline of 1787, at the close 
of the section, "On the Nature and Constitu- 
tion of our Church," states: "We therefore 
have constituted ourselves into an Episcopal 
Church, under the direction of bishops, elders, 
deacons, and preachers, according to the 
forms of ordination annexed to our Prayer- 
book and the regulations laid down in this 
form of Discipline." According to these 
forms, Francis Asbury was ordained deacon, 
elder, and bishop, or superintendent. The 
Prayer-book was used in the cities, and Meth- 
odist ministers read the Liturgy in gowns and 
bands, as had been the custom of the clergy 
of the English Church, the successor of which 
the Methodist Episcopal Church was, it being 
the first Protestant Episcopal Church organ- 
ized in the United States. In the Minutes of 
1784 the reading of the Liturgy was specified 
among the duties of the helpers, as may be 
seen in the following questions and answers: 

"Ques. 34. Will it be expedient to appoint some 
of our helpers to read the morning and evening 
service out of our Liturgy on the Lord's-day? 

"Ans. It will. And every helper who receives a 



170 History of the Ritual 

written direction under the hand of a superin- 
tendent may regularly read the morning and even- 
ing service on the Lord's-day." 

In 1789 this was changed so, as to read: 

u Ques.j. Are the Preachers to accept our Lit- 
urgy?" 

u Ans. All that have received a written direction 
for that purpose, under the hand of a bishop or 
elder, may read the Liturgy as often as they think it 
expedient." 

But for many reasons, the chief of which 
grew out of the nature of the work which it 
was the mission and the glory of the Church 
to accomplish in a sparsely-settled country, 
the above questions and answers were omitted 
in 1792 from the Discipline. Jesse Lee, in 
his "History of the Methodists/' says : 

"For some time the preachers generally read 
prayers on the Lord's-day, and in some cases the 
preachers read part of the morning service on 
Wednesdays and Fridays ; but some who had been 
accustomed to pray extempore were unwilling to 
adopt this new plan, being fully satisfied that they 
could pray better and with more devotion while 
their eyes were shut than they could with their eyes 
open. After a few years the Prayer-book was laid 
aside, and has never been used since in public 
worship." 



Transition 171 



It was not the genius of Methodism to be 
confined to forms. With Christian art and 
ceremonial as such, Methodism can have no 
conflict. To her thought there would be 
nothing incongruous in holding a "revival" 
service under the dome of St. Peter's, in the 
aisles of Cologne, or under the spires of Milan, 
in which the joyful shouts of new-born souls 
and the sobbings of the penitent would take 
the place of swelling organ and Gregorian 
chant. A cathedral, or a leafy bower in the 
forest — she is at home in either. The heir, 
with others, of all the ages, inheriting by law- 
ful succession the priceless heritage of the 
past, all that is of deathless value in the long 
roll of the Christian centuries, she is conscious 
of her right and ability to use whatever may 
add to the dignity and true glory of the sanc- 
tuary, ennoble or intensify the devotions of 
her children, and mark severe distinctions be- 
tween the holy and the profane. But Meth- 
odism, born of the Spirit, must live in the free- 
dom of the Spirit. Where the Spirit of God 
is, there is the life of God; and that life can 
neither be restrained nor cramped by artificial 
and superfluous forms without the destruction 
of those forms or the gradual decline and final 
extinction of that Divine life, the manifest 



172 History of the Ritual 

presence of which is the only true standard 
of a standing or falling Church. Unused to 
Liturgical forms, and associating them with 
the spiritless formalism of a Church which was 
by them regarded as the servile adjunct of the 
State, and having become without the aid of 
such the happy subjects of the Redeemer's 
kingdom — the majority of the early Meth- 
odists who were scattered along vast distances 
from New England to the southern border of 
Georgia, and living remote from centers of 
civilization and refinement, could never be 
brought to appreciate the value of these Lit- 
urgical forms to their free spiritual life, nor 
their adaptability to existing pioneer con- 
ditions, nor the necessity of them to the 
strengthening, expansion, or development of 
the Church. 

But these observations do not apply to the 
use of the Ritual. Against that there never 
was any opposition. For more than a hun- 
dred years its nobility, its elegance of expres- 
sion, its Scripturalness and sobriety have en- 
deared it to the hearts of all who in the solemn 
rites of religion would worship the Father 
Almighty in the beauty of holiness and the 
holiness of beauty. 

The sacraments must be administered in 



Transition 173 



some form. It is not essential to their validity 
that prayers, Scripture readings, Collects, and 
personal exhortations should be offered, nor 
is it essential that the exact form of adminis- 
tering them in every particular should be 
everywhere and at all times precisely the same. 
But it appeals to reason, if there is to be a 
form at all, that there should be only one au- 
thorized form for the same people. If every 
minister should follow the lawless moods of 
changeful fancy, each minister differing from 
all others in one or more particulars, or in the 
use of a form of his own devising, the picture 
presented to an onlooker would be one of 
chaos and anarchy in the most sacred rites of 
the Church of God, in which the apostle who, 
notwithstanding that it was he who gave the 
death-blow to the most elaborate Ritualism 
the world has ever seen, enjoins that every- 
thing should be done in decency and order. 
Christian reverence, the universal Christian 
consciousness, draws the line on marked in- 
dividualism in administering the sacraments 
of our holy religion; it instinctively resents 
that presumption which would lead one to 
substitute his own methods and forms in op- 
position to those that have been formulated 
by authority, and obtained universal sanction. 



174 History of the Ritual 

It is necessary also to the satisfaction of 
the religious sense, and demanded by the sa- 
cred character of the service itself, that the 
sacraments instituted by our Blessed Re- 
deemer should be administered with the ut- 
most solemnity, with dignity of expression 
and manner, thus lifting them, as is fitting, far 
above the common and trivial, and awakening 
in the worshiper the profoundest feelings of 
reverential awe, faith, and love. To do less is 
to belittle them, and by crudeness to degrade 
them; as by offensively exaggerating the re- 
finement of elegancy, common among ex- 
treme Ritualists, is to make their celebration 
gaudy, unseemly, fantastic, and meretricious. 
The early Methodists were a holy people. 
The mystical tinge in the devout aspirations 
of Wesley gave a distinctive character to their 
devotions, while his steadfast adherence to the 
Liturgy of the Church demonstrated that de- 
votion to form was not incompatible with the 
loftiest spiritual fervor. Methodists, there- 
fore, have never been opposed or indifferent 
to the Ritual. Its dignity of expression, its 
simplicity, its strength and beauty and pathos, 
instinct with the ardors of pure devotion, still 
stir piety's flame, and by the gracious aid of 
the Holy Spirit prepare the reverent soul for 



Transition 175 



the sacred service as when it was first adopted 
by the Methodist fathers. 

The changes that have been made in the 
several offices by General Conferences from 
1784 to the present time have been neither 
numerous nor important. They have con- 
sisted for the most part in the omission of 
certain words and Scripture sentences not 
necessary to the full meaning of the rite they 
elucidated, or in substituting words required 
by changes made, or for the removal of 
grounds for misapprehension of the doctrine 
taught. These changes may be seen in extenso 
in the histories of the Discipline by Emory, 
Strickland, and Sherman. 



Cljapttr VIII 

SOURCES 

Having thus traced the history of the 
Ritual from the dawn of the Reformation to 
its revision by Wesley, it is now fitting to 
inquire what were the original sources whence 
its several parts were derived. This part of 
our subject has been deferred until the book, 
upon which we comment, should be clearly 
before us, and in order that the question of 
sources might receive a distinct, though brief, 
statement, an exhaustive study not being pos- 
sible within the limits of this present work. 

When Christianity was introduced into 
England, and by whom, is not known. We 
only know that it was brought there at a very 
early date in the second century. That the 
Churches in the island had forms of Divine 
service is certain; but the history of these 
forms is uncertain. It is, however, almost 
universally conceded that the formularies of 
the ancient British Churches were derived 
from the Churches in Gaul, probably from the 
Church of Lyons, which, through Irenseus, 
176 



Sources 177 



Pothinus, and their predecessors, traced their 
origin to Polycarp and thus to the Apostle 
John, whose disciple he was, at Ephesus. The 
Gallican Liturgy was certainly derived from 
Eastern, and not from Western, sources ; from 
Ephesus, and not from Rome; and those, 
therefore, are greatly in error who would trace 
the Liturgy of the Methodist Church to the 
Roman Church. The Roman Ritual, as a 
whole, was never used in England. 1 

In the sixth century — A. D. 596 — Au- 
gustine was sent by Gregory the Great to 
convert the Saxons. On his way to England 
through Gaul he found Liturgical forms dif- 
fering from those of Rome, and when he 
reached England and had a conference with 
the presbyter-bishops of the British Church, 



1 This adapted note will be of interest : 

The originals of our Church Ritual may be traced back, 
with more or less clearness, fullness, and particularity (dimin- 
ishing, of course, as we ascend higher, and possess more 
scanty materials), for fourteen or fifteen hundred years. The 
services generally consisted of two portions, the latter of 
which, the Communion Office, was anciently called the 
Liturgy. They were handed down " memoriter " till the end 
of the third century, after which they were committed to 
writing. The principal Liturgies are — 

1. The Oriental, ascribed to St. James, used at Jerusalem 
and Antioch ; older than the Council of Chalcedon (A. D. 451). 
The order and substance the same in Justin Martyr's time. 
Other branches were that of Caesarea, compiled by Basil, and 
that of Constantinople by Chrysostom. 

2. The Alexandrian, ascribed to St. Mark, quoted by 
Origen (A. D. 220), completed by Cyril of Alexandria (A. D. 412). 

3 The Roman, completed by Gregory the Great (A. D. 
590), derived from ancient sources, probably as far back as 

12 



178 History of the Ritual 

he discovered that they also had forms and 
customs differing from those of the Roman 
Church. In his dilemma Augustine addressed 
himself to Gregory : "Whereas the faith is one, 
why are the customs of the Churches various? 
And why is one manner of celebrating the 
holy communion used in the holy Roman 
Church, and another in that of the Gauls ?" 
Bede tells us that, in the conference with the 
British bishops, Augustine offered to tolerate 
their divergences from the Roman forms and 
customs on certain conditions. The reply of 
Gregory the Great to the letter of Augustine 
was: 

"You, my brother, are acquainted with the cus- 
toms of the Roman Church in which you were 
brought up. But it is my pleasure that if you have 
found anything either in the Roman or the Gallican 



the second century: with its branches, as the Ambrosian 
and African. 

4. The Gallican, used at Lyons, in Gaul, and referred, 
through Irenseus, to St. John. This is supposed to have had 
offsets in the Mosarabic, and Ancient British. See "Palmer's 
Orig. Liturgy," Vol. I. (Walker's Element. Liturgy.) 

It may be interesting to some of our readers to know that 
the Scotch Kirk originally possessed a Liturgy, which con- 
tinued in use till the year 1636, when Archbishop Laud's un- 
happy attempts to enforce his New Service-book, threw all 
forms into disrepute. See McCrie's "Sketches of Scottish 
Church History," pp. 203, 204. This is probably the book 
alluded to by Hooker (Ecc. Pol. v. 27), mentioned by 
Strype as the first printed in Latin, 1556, by the exiles at 
Geneva, with Calvin's approbation, and afterwards translated 
into English, and "approved and received by the Church of 
Scotland." See Note to Keble's edition of Hooker. 



Sources 179 



or any other Church which may be more acceptable 
to Almighty God, you carefully make choice of the 
same; and sedulously teach the Church of the 
Angles, which is at present new in the Faith, what- 
soever you can gather from the several Churches. 
For things are not to be loved for the sake of 
places, but places for the sake of good things. 
Select, therefore, from each Church those things 
that are pious, religious, and correct; and when you 
have made these up into one body, instill this into 
the minds of the English for their use." (Bede's 
Eccl. Hist., I, 27.) 

It is at this point we see the beginning of 
the process of amalgamation of the various 
Liturgies then used in Western Christendom. 
But the Roman form never superseded the 
old British form, although an attempt to that 
effect was made in the Council of Clevesho, 
A. D. 747. Again, at the time of the Con- 
quest another effort was made for uniformity 
of worship, and not without success. Os- 
mund, Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of 
England, actuated by noblest motives, col- 
lected about him clergy noted for learning, 
and by their aid remodeled the Divine offices, 
and gave to the Church as the result of his 
labors a Form for Daily Service, for the Com- 
munion Service, for Baptism, and "Occasional 
Offices." These several books became known 



180 History of the Ritual 

as the Salisbury or "Sarum Use." This 
"Use" was adopted in the Diocese of Salis- 
bury, A. D. 1085, and being gradually intro- 
duced into other parts of the kingdom, be- 
came finally the principal or more noted Serv- 
ice-book of the Church of England, which 
place of esteem it held for the space of four 
hundred and fifty years. Other Service-books, 
to which reference has been made in these 
pages, continued to be used in the Dioceses 
of Hereford and Bangor, and by the Churches 
in the Province of York. St. Paul's Cathedral 
and other cathedral churches had their sev- 
eral Uses, while the distinctively Roman Use 
was confined almost wholly to monastic estab- 
lishments. In A. D. 1 5 16, the Sarum Use was 
revised by the celebrated Wolsey. This re- 
vision, further reformed in 1541, came down 
to the Reformation under Edward VI, and 
was one of the many Liturgies, perhaps the 
principal one, employed by the Reformers in 
the compilation of the Book of Common 
Prayer. 

The Reformation in Germany having 
gained great headway, Luther, in 1533, trans- 
lated into German from the Latin some of the 
old services, with emendations, for the 
Churches of Nuremberg and Brandenburg. 



Sources 181 



Ten years later, Herrman, Prince-Archbishop 
of Cologne and Elector of the German Em- 
pire, adopted Reform principles, and, although 
opposed by pope and emperor, endeavored to 
introduce the Reformation among his sub- 
jects. With this end in view, he requested 
the noted Reformers, Melanchthon and Bucer, 
to draw up a Scriptural form of service for 
use in his territory. This they did, taking 
Luther's translation of the old German formu- 
laries as their model, and also his Baptismal 
Office, almost word for word. The work was 
first published in German under the Latin 
title, "Simplex Judicium de Reformatione 
Ecclesiarum Electoratus Coloniensis. ,, In 
1545 a Latin translation was published at 
Bonn, entitled, "Simplex ac pia deliberatio de 
Reformatione Ecclesiarum," etc., and from 
this an English translation was printed in 
1547, with the title, "A Simple and Pious De- 
liberation of Us Herrman, by the Grace of 
God Archbishop of Cologne and Prince Elec- 
tor," etc., which was followed by amended 
editions in 1548. This work, it will be ob- 
served, appeared five years before the first 
book of Edward VI, and afforded many sug- 
gestions to the compilers of that book, as may 
be seen on the margin of the following Com- 



182 History of the Ritual 

mentary. The "Great Bible," printed by 
Grafton and Whitechurch, 1539, was also in 
constant use, and we have already referred 
to the ancient Liturgies, which were well 
known to the learned divines who undertook 
the task of compiling a Ritual as free as they 
then could make it of the errors that had 
crept in in the run of the centuries. If, now, 
we were to present in one view the principal 
sources of the Ritual, we would have be- 
fore us — 

The Salisbury, or Sarum Use; 

The York, Bangor, and other Uses; 

The Consultation of Herrman, Archbishop 
of Cologne; 

The English Translation of the Same; 

The Great Bible of 1539 A. D. 

There are no records extant setting forth 
the details of the method by which the com- 
missioners produced the Service-book of 
1549; but by comparison we are led to the 
conclusion that the foundation of their labors 
was the ancient Liturgies of the English 
Church, the Sarum, and other Uses, which, as 
we have seen, were not Roman, but Gallican, 
and derived originally from the Apostolic 
Churches in the Patriarchate of Ephesus. The 
Baptismal Office is indebted to Luther's 



Scrurces 183 



"Taufbuchlein," which was inserted in Herr- 
man's Baptismal Service in his "Consultation" 
almost word for word, and also to the Sarum 
Use, which agrees in many particulars with 
the earliest Baptismal Ritual extant, that of 
Gelasius and Gregory, eminent leaders of the 
Universal Church before the long night of 
ignorance and superstition had eclipsed the 
bright sun of truth. 

Prior to the revision of 1661, there was no 
office in the English Ritual for the adminis- 
tration of baptism to those of riper years. 
Convocation of this year appointed a com- 
mittee to frame one, and the present form is 
the outcome of their labors. Dr. Griffiths, 
Bishop of St. Asaph, is said, on excellent au- 
thority (Wood, "Athenae Oxonienses") to 
have had the chief hand in its composition. 



COMMENTARY 

.85 



Chapter IX 

HOLY BAPTISM 

Introductory Note 

Baptism is a sacrament of the Christian Church, 
instituted by the Lord Jesus, and enjoined by him 
upon all who profess faith in him as a personal 
Savior. (Matt, xxviii, 19; Mark xvi, 16.) "Except 
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can 
not enter the kingdom of God." (John iii, 5.) 

The Sixteenth Article of Religion teaches that 
44 sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges 
or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather 
they are certain signs of grace and God's good will 
toward us, by the which he doth work invisibly in 
us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen 
and confirm, our faith in him. There are two sac- 
raments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel; 
that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord." 
And of baptism, the Seventeenth teaches: "Bap- 
tism is not only a sign of profession and mark of 
difference whereby Christians are distinguished from 
others that are not baptized, but it is also a sign of 
regeneration or the new birth. The baptism of 
young children is to be retained in the Church." 

Baptism is not the new birth, but the sign of it ; 

for a thing can not be at the same time a sign and 

the thing signified. In the New Testament and in 

the writings of the early Church, baptism and re- 

187 



188 History of the Ritual 

generation are often referred to in synonymous 
terms, the misapprehension of which usage has led 
to the doctrinal error of baptismal regeneration in 
a spiritual sense. Thus we find it alluded to as the 
" water of life " by Justin Martyr. It is also called 
light, illuminatio, lux mentis ; sacramentum indul- 
gentiae, because sins in it were remitted ; mors pec- 
catorum, the death of sins; gratia, donum, palin- 
genesia, regeneration, salus, salvation, etc. In the New 
Testament it is called " the laver of regeneration." 
In the Old Testament we meet with the same meta- 
phorical style ; as, for instance, Genesis xvii, where 
circumcision is called the Covenant, and in Exodus 
xii, where the lamb is called the Passover ; and it 
is but natural that New Testament writers and early 
Christian fathers, and even Christians of later times, 
should speak of baptism as regeneration or illumina- 
tion, so close, ideally, is the connection or relation be- 
tween the sign and the signified ; for, of a truth, they 
who in genuine faith receive the holy sacraments of 
baptism and the ford's Supper do not fasten their 
eyes on the things that are sensible, but upon those 
things that are super-sensible and heavenly. 

But baptism is not only a sign or seal of God's 
gracious promises — it is also the Divinely-insti- 
tuted rite of admission to the Church of God. Under 
the old covenant, without circumcision, which may 
be called one of the sacraments of the Covenant 
Church — the Passover being the other — there was 
no citizenship in the commonwealth of Israel (see 
Oehler, " Old Testament Theology," English transla- 
tion, sect. 88, p. 194, at the top; and Schultz, "Alt- 
testamentliche Theologie," p. 177: "Die Beschnei- 



Holy Baptism 189 

dung ist in Israel die Weihe des Menschen zum 
Eintritt in das heilige Volk Jahve's," etc.) ; and 
under the new covenant, without baptism, which 
takes the place of circumcision, there can be no 
part in the fellowship of Christ's people. By it we 
are transferred from the sphere of the world, lying 
outside the covenant of grace, into the society of 
the holy and redeemed, of which Christ is the Head ; 
for we are no longer ''strangers and foreigners, but 
fellow-citizens of the saints and of the household of 
God " (Eph. ii, 19) — transferred from this world, with 
all its delusive show and vanishing glory, into the 
city of God, the Church of Christ, on whose walls 
time leaves no scars, and against whose gates the 
powers of darkness shall not prevail. 

The prerequisites or conditions for baptism in 
the apostolic age were repentance and faith. "Re- 
pent ye, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus of Nazareth, unto the remission of sins, and 
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" was the 
command of the apostle on the day of Pentecost. 
These conditions have always been required, and 
are absolutely essential; for unless there is true re- 
pentance for past sin, a putting off of the old man 
with his deeds, and a heartfelt acceptance of the 
truths of the gospel, the act is a dreadful mockery. 

The formula as given by the Lord himself, and 
which must be used in every valid baptism is, "I 
baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt, xxviii, 19.) 
That this form was invariably used by the apostles 
and the primitive Church seems to have become a 
matter of doubt among some recent writers. Thus, 



190 History of the Ritual 

"After the third century," says Allen ("Christian 
Institutions," p. 403), "the formula of baptism was 
in the name of the Trinity, and baptism otherwise 
performed was declared invalid; but in the early 
Church, as also in the apostolic age, there is evi- 
dence that the baptismal formula of the name of 
Jesus only was not unusual." In proof of this the 
passage in Acts, xix, 1-6, is cited; for it is there 
said the apostle baptized those disciples "in the 
name of the Lord Jesus." But the value of evidence 
depends on how the facts are interpreted. 

The oldest document known at present in Chris- 
tian literature, except the New Testament writings, 
is the "Didache," a manual of teaching often read 
in the Churches, and belonging, according to Schaff 
to the period A. D. 90-100, in which opinion Bishop 
Lightfoot ("Apostolic Fathers," Vol. I, p. 390, Note 1) 
agrees, although Harnack ("Die Chronologie der 
Altch. Iyitt, p. 438) places it later, in 131-160. Now 
the formula laid down in that ancient manual is, 
11 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost." Justin Martyr is in evidence to the 
same effect. (" Apolog.," I, c.) The " Apostolical Con- 
stitutions" require the distinct utterance of the 
names, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; and the " Apos- 
tolical Canons " declare that if a minister does not 
baptize according to "our Lord's institution, into 
the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, he should be 
suspended. Bingham (in his "Antiquities of the 
Christian Church," Book XI, chapter iii) cites only 
two testimonies favoring the administering baptism 
in the name of Jesus only. 

As regards the testimony of Acts xix, 1-6, it sup- 
ports the opposite view to that for which it is 



Holy Baptism 191 

quoted; for, clearly, the previous question of the 
apostle, "Unto what, then, were ye baptized?" im- 
plies the customary, usual naming of the Holy 
Ghost. If this question of wonder and surprise 
does not imply that, what can it imply? Of this 
passage, therefore, and of the similar one in 1 Cor. 
vi, 11, our conclusion is that of Godet, that the 
common expression, "To baptize in the name of 
Jesus" — "est une forme abregee pour designer le 
bapteme Chretien en general" — is an abridged form 
designating Christian baptism in general. 

The mode is indifferent, but the element or mat- 
ter must be water. From the beginning, different 
modes of baptizing have been used. From the New 
Testament itself no positive, certain proof can be 
obtained that baptism was administered in one way 
only. The recorded cases of baptism are against 
the assumption. Whichever mode under the cir- 
cumstances was the more convenient, that was em- 
ployed. Upon this subject the "Didache" also 
throws much light. This manual, chapter vii, 
teaches: "Now, concerning baptism, thus baptize 
ye : Having first uttered all these things, baptize 
into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit, in running water [hudor zon> ' liv- 
ing water ']. But if thou hast not running [living] 
water, baptize in other water ; and if thou canst not 
in cold, then in warm. But if thou hast neither, 
pour water upon the head thrice in the name of the 
Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit." 

That infants were baptized in the Apostlic 
Church there ought to be no reasonable doubt. (See 
my " Christianity and Childhood," chapters x, xi.) 
Many volumes have been written to the contrary, 



192 History of the Ritual 

but no one has ever yet been able to put bis finger 
on a date in the annals of the Christian Church 
where by the Church infant baptism was not prac- 
ticed. From our day to Augustine A. D. 400, and 
from his day back to the times of the apostles, an 
unbroken chain of evidence runs such as would 
demonstrate a case of successional inheritance from 
an original source in any high court in Christendom ; 
Augustine and Pelagius A. D. 400; Council of Car- 
thage, 397 ; Jerome, 390 ; Chrysostom, 387 ; Ambrose, 
385; Gregory Nazianzen, 370; Cyprian, 258; Ter- 
tullian, 200; Origen, 185; Justin Martyr, 114; 
Irenseus, 97-110; Polycarp, disciple of John. (See 
Irenaeus "Adv. Haer.," iii, 3 ; Eusebius, " Hist. 
Eccles.," iv, 14.) The creed of the Petrobussians, a 
sect of the Middle Ages, about 1 126, who denied infant 
salvation, is the first formal denial on record of the 
right of infant baptism in the history of the ages. 

[Let every adult person, and the parents of every child to 
be baptized, have the choice of either sprinkling, pouring, or 
immersion.] 

[We will on no account whatever make a charge for ad- 
ministering baptism.] 

fl 442. Order for the Administration of Baptism to 
Infants. 

The Minister \ coming to the Font, which is to be filled 
with pure water, shall use the following : 
job xiv, 4 ; Dearly Beloved, forasmuch as all men are con- 

p s xx n,' 5 4 ' ceived and born in sin, and that our Savior Christ 

John iii, 6; saith, Except a man be born of water and source, 

xiv ' 6 '' ' of the Spirit he can not enter into the "SiEKt? 
Matt, xviii, kingdom of God ; I beseech you to call * 5 * 7, 
I9, 2 °- upon God the Father, through our Lord Jesus 



Holy Baptism 193 

Christ, that having, of his bounteous mercy, re- 
deemed this child by the blood of his Son, he will 
grant that he, being baptized with water, may also Acts i, 5. 
be baptized with the Holy Ghost, be received into Rom. v'i, 3, 4 . 
Christ's holy Church, and become a lively member of 
the same. 

The minister coming to the font. The font 
should be of sufficient size to permit the im- 
mersion of the child should that mode be de- 
sired; but ordinarily a comely basin is used. 
The sex should be ascertained at this time, in 
order that the proper pronouns may be em- 
ployed in the prayers and in the address to the 
congregation. In the apostolic period, and 
for some time after, there was no special place 
for the administration of baptism. The sacred 
rite was administered wherever there was run- 
ning water; but it was not confined to such 
places. In Acts ix, 18, x, 47, xvi, 33, 34, there 
are instances of baptism occurring in private 
houses, and in the Didache, or Teaching of 
the Twelve Apostles (about 120 A. D.), the 
injunction is, "If thou hast not living water, 
baptize in other water; and if thou canst not 
in cold, then in warm." (See also Justin 
Martyr, "Apologia," I, c. 61, and Tertull., 
"De Bapt," c. 4.) But when, by reason of 
persecution, the Christians were compelled to 
13 



i94 History of the Ritual 

refrain from publicity in this sacrament, fonts 
were erected in the churches, and soon came 
into general use. Dearly beloved. The usual 
affectionate form of address in the Liturgies 
to the Church present, or to those participat- 
ing in the service. The address following was 
suggested by the form in Herrman's "Consul- 
tation" and the Gallic Formula, but only sug- 
gested. Conceived and bom in sin. This em- 
phatic declaration of Scripture with which 
the Church begins this holy service properly 
introduces the reason for the act and the 
prayers which follow, and the statement of our 
Lord, that except a man be born of zvater and 
of the Spirit he can not enter the kingdom of God. 
Washing by water is the Divinely-recognized 
symbol of spiritual purification. But baptism 
is a seal of the covenant, and by it we are 
admitted into the visible Church kingdom, or 
society of the pure and holy; by the Spirit we 
are brought into the invisible spiritual king- 
dom, into which none can enter except he is 
born of the Spirit. Baptism is the symbol of 
that new birth, and he who is baptized is so 
with the intent that he may be baptized with 
the Holy Ghost. Having . . . redeemed. 
By the atonement of His Son, determined in 
eternity, accomplished in time, God the 



Holy Baptism 195 

Father has potentially redeemed the whole hu- 
man race, so that every one born into the 
world is born under the atonement made by 
the Lord Jesus, and is entitled, because of that 
fact, to all the benefits of the atonement. The 
nature and extent of these gracious gifts must 
be according to the need and receptivity of 
the one receiving them, and therefore the 
Church prays that the child, being baptized 
with water, may also be baptized with the Holy 
Ghost. The prayer is that the blessing shall 
come from God, not from the elements or sac- 
ramental form, the sacrament being only a 
sign of the thing signified or prayed for. Nor 
is the grace so related to the sign or seal as is 
cause to effect, that when the rite is adminis- 
tered the gift of God must necessarily and im- 
mediately accompany it. Cornelius, the cen- 
turion, received the Holy Spirit before he was 
baptized with water, and Simon Magus, 
though baptized with water, received not the 
Holy Ghost. But it is going to an unscrip- 
tural extreme to assert that no Divine blessing 
is given in baptism. Admission to the courts 
of the temple is itself a gracious gift, and he 
who obeys the commandments of his Lord is 
blessed in his obedience. The only thing we 
do not know is that very thing which it does 



196 History of the Ritual 

not concern us to know; namely, the mode 
by which the Holy Spirit works. 

Then shall the Minister say, 
Let us pray. 
Almighty and Everlasting God, who of thy great 
mercy hast condescended to enter into covenant 
Gen. vi, 13, i 7 , relations with man, wherein thou hast included 
Matt.xix, 2 i3. 22 children as partakers of its gracious benefits, declar- 
Lu k ke X xvui, 15. ing that of such is thy kingdom ; and in thy ancient 
Church didst appoint divers baptisms, figuring 
thereby the renewing of the Holy Ghost; and by 
thy well-beloved Son Jesus Christ gavest command- 
Matt, xxviii, 19. ment to thy holy apostles to go into all the world 
and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name 
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost : we beseech thee, that of thine infinite mercy 
thou wilt look upon this child: wash him ■ 
and sanctify him; that he, being saved Consult, 
by thy grace, may be received into 
Christ's holy Church, and being steadfast in faith, 
joyful through hope, and rooted in love, may so 
overcome the evils of this present world that finally 
he may attain to everlasting life, and reign with 
thee, world without end, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 

O Merciful God, grant that all carnal Missal. 
Rom. viii, 6, 7 . affections may die in him, and that all 6aUlcan « 

2 Pet. 111, 18. J , 

things belonging to the Spirit may live and grow 

in him. Amen. 
is. xi, 29-31. Grant that he may have power and strength to 

f john X v|'4 20 ' have victory, and to triumph against the devil, the 
1 Cor. xv', 57 . wor id, and the flesh. Amen. 



Holy Baptism 197 

Grant that whosoever is dedicated to thee by our Gal. iii, 26, 27. 
office and ministry may also be endued with heavenly J^ i, 9-11 ' 
virtues, and everlastingly rewarded through thy Matt > Hi I, i6 ??' 
mercy, O blessed Lord God, who dost live and govern Ma "- xxvi »> 
all things, world without end. Amen. 

Almighty, Everliving God, whose most dearly- 
beloved Son Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of our 
Salisbury s i ns » did shed out of his most precious 
Gnglrr, side hoth water and blood, regard, we J ^*^', 5*' 
©eiasius. beseech thee, our supplications. Sanctify 
this water for this Holy Sacrament; and grant that 
this c/izld, now to be baptized, may receive the full- 
ness of thy grace, and ever remain in the number of 
thy faithful and elect children, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. 

Then shall the minister say. The people 
should kneel, but throughout the entire serv- 
ice the minister should remain standing, as 
the rubrics would indicate, until the Lord's 
Prayer is said, when all kneel. Let us pray. 
It would be difficult to find an uninspired 
prayer that surpasses this in beauty of diction 
and fervor of devotion. The supplication is 
for the child now and through life. Almighty 
and Everlasting God. Who has power to ac- 
complish all that he has promised. May be 
received into Christ's holy Church. Holy people 
for holy things. The Church of Christ, ac- 
cording to the New Testament ideal of it, is 
constituted of holy people called "saints" or 



198 History of the Ritual 

"holy ones," as having been separated from 
the unholy mass of the world, and is therefore 
a holy Church. merciful God! The prayer 
is that the prevenient grace of the Spirit may 
dominate the mental and moral life of the 
child to the destruction of evil tendencies in- 
herent in human nature, and which, by unre- 
strained practice, come by the force of habit 
to such influence over us that we fall early 
victims to carnal affections and desires. Power 
and strength. An intensification of the idea 
of moral ability, through Divine grace, to 
overcome the devil, the zvorld, and the flesh — 
three representative sources of temptation. 
Grant . . . dedicated. The minister prays 
that this act done in obedience to Christ's 
command may be graciously accepted by 
blessing the subject of it with continuous 
grace — a most saintly desire that a sanctified 
life might begin and continue under the bless- 
ings of a hallowed ministry. Water and blood. 
As is written in John xix, 34, 35, Scripturally 
it is the blood that cleanseth ; but both are used 
emblematically as washing away our guilt, 
for they are both involved in the atonement 
of Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Sanc- 
tify this water. Not by imparting to the water 
any miraculous virtue or infusing into it any 



Holy Baptism 199 

mystical power ; but that since God is invoked 
to bless the sacred rite, he would also bless the 
means or instruments thereto, thus separating 
them to our eye of faith from ordinary use, as 
the utensils in the sanctuary were all holy 
in the sight of the holy God, and not to be 
used as common things. Nothing under the 
new covenant is less holy than things under 
the old covenant. 

Then shall the Minister address the Parents or 
Guardians as follows : 

Dearly Belovkd, forasmuch as this child is now Neh. viii, 1-8. 
presented by you for Christian Baptism, you must Matt*™viu,~?9, 

Salisbury remember that it: 1S y° Ur P art and dut 7 Lukexi. x-4. 

Use, to see that he be taught, as soon as he M * u - xix > l6 > J 7- 

and also in shall be able to learn, the nature and end „ «• 

JUtin form. r ,, . TT , . . , ., . , p ^. v - x .xn, 6. 

of this Holy Sacrament. And that he 2 Tim. m, i 4 , i 5 „ 

may know these things the better, you shall call Heb.x'23! 
upon him to give reverent attendance upon the ap- R om .'yi',3-6, «. 
pointed means of grace, such as the ministry of the ^p 1 ;" 1 ^ \^\ 
word, and the public and private worship of God ; 8_I 3- 
and further, you shall provide that he shall read the 
Holy Scriptures, and learn the Lord's Prayer, the 
Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Cate- 
chism, and all other things which a Christian ought 
to know and believe to his soul's health, in order 
that he may be brought up to lead a virtuous and 
holy life, remembering always that Baptism doth 
represent unto us that inward purity which dispos- 
eth us to follow the example of our Savior Christ; 



200 History of the Ritual 

that as lie died and rose again for us, so should we, 
who are baptized, die unto sin and rise again unto 
righteousness, continually mortifying all corrupt af- 
fections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and god- 
liness. 

Do you therefore solemnly engage to fulfill these 
duties, so far as in you lies, the Lord being your 
helper ? 

Ans. We do. 

Then shall the minister say. The rubric is 
imperative. The administrator is not at lib- 
erty to omit this solemn charge. Not that the 
sacrament would thereby be invalidated, but 
for the obvious and justifying reason that 
without it, and the engagement of parents or 
guardians, there would be no assurance for 
the Christian nurture of the child. In the 
early Church witnesses were required to the 
baptismal rite, who should also be sureties for 
the Christian training of the child. These 
sureties were called sponsors, alluding to the 
answer (responsum) given to the interroga- 
tories. Part and duty. The presentation of 
the child for baptism is regarded by the 
Church as an act of the gravest import, in- 
volving responsibilities of the most serious 
nature. Taught . . . nature and end of 
this holy sacrament. He must be informed of 
his consecration to God, what his baptism sig- 



Holy Baptism 201 

nified, and its design in thus bringing him 
within the gates of Zion. The ministry of the 
Word. Sermons and exhortations in the 
Church. Public and private worship. Regular 
Church services and private prayer. Read the 
Holy Scriptures. God's great teacher. In the 
primitive Church, as in Israel, children were 
trained up from their infancy to the study of 
the Holy Scriptures. Eusebius, Socrates, and 
Sozomen, in their histories, give several beau- 
tiful examples of this general practice.. That 
they may lead a virtuous and holy life, now 
begun in this divinely-appointed sign of in- 
visible grace. Solemnly engage. Covenant be- 
fore God and his Church. We do. The 
affirmative of a binding obligation and cove- 
nant with God, and for the child. The Divine 
side of the contract is now to be stated, in 
which will be shown that Christ truly accepts 
children dedicated to him by the prayers of his 
people in the waters of baptism. 

Then shall the People stand up, and the Minister shall 
say: 

Hear the words of the Gospel, written by St. Mark. 
[Chap, x, 13-16.] 

They brought young children to Christ, that he 
should touch them. And his disciples rebuked those 
that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was 



202 History of the Ritual 

much, displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the lit- 
tle children to come unto me, and forbid them not ; 
for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say 
unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom 
of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 
And he took them up in his arms, put his hands 
upon them, and blessed them. 

People stand up. The congregation should 
rise and remain standing till the act of baptism 
is completed. The standing Church is a wit- 
nessing Church, sanctioning the holy conse- 
cration, and by its attitude responsible for the 
Scriptural and proper performance of the 
same. 

Then shall the Minister take the Child into his hands, 
and say to the friends of the Child, 

Name this child. 

And the?i, naming it after the?n, he shall sprinkle or 
pour Water upon it, or, if desired, i?mnerse it in 
Water, saying, 

N., I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Then shall the minister take. Unless, for 
some good reason, the minister should never 
baptize the child except as ordered by the 
rubric. The whole service is symbolic, and 
the right to destroy any part of the picture 



Holy Baptism 203 

carries with it the right to demolish the whole. 
In the Gospel just read, the people brought 
their little ones to Jesus, and his disciples re- 
buked the people ; but Jesus took the children 
in his arms and blessed them. In like manner 
the minister of Jesus, standing as his repre- 
sentative, receives in Christ's name the child 
brought to him and for His kingdom. There 
should be no haste or confusion or awkward- 
ness of movement here. The child should be 
taken on the left arm, that the right hand may 
be free to act, the head uncovered, and the 
water plentifully poured upon it out of the 
hand, or shell, or suitable vessel. Name this 
child. Baptism is the sign of the new birth, 
and a new name — a Christian name — is ac- 
cordingly given by those who have the right 
to give it. The Jews named their children 
on the day of their circumcision. (Luke i, 
59-63 ; ii, 21. Compare Isa. xlix, 3-5.) In the 
New Testament there is no mention of this 
practice among Christians, nor do we rind it 
among the earliest Christian writers; but in 
the third or fourth century the practice be- 
came common. The surname should not be 
spoken; the given name should be distinctly 
pronounced. / baptize thee in the name. This 
is our Lord's formula. (Matt, xxviii, 19.) To 



204 History of the Ritual 

be baptized into the name of one is to be con- 
secrated to, given up in obedience and faith- 
fulness to, for all time. (Acts xxii, 16; Rom. 
vi, 3 ; I Cor. i, 13-15 ; x, 2.) And we are thus 
consecrated at the threshold of life to the 
Triune God. In the primitive Church trine 
baptism was practiced. At the mention of 
each holy name the water was applied or the 
person immersed, as we see in the Teaching, 
(Chapter vii.) Tertuilian, "Adv. Prox." c. 26, 
says: "We receive the water of baptism non 
semel sed ier ad singula nomina — Not once, but 
three times at the mention of each name." 
(See also his treatise, "De Corona Milit.") In 
the Sacramentary of Gregory trine immersion 
is also ordered. By what authority the an- 
cient form was changed does not appear. In 
the New Testament there is nothing to indi- 
cate that the apostles ever heard of trine im- 
mersion, and by what authority their mode 
was changed does not appear either. The one 
application in the one name of God, uttering 
clearly the name of each person in the Ador- 
able Trinity is sufficient. Amen. So be it. 
This response should be said audibly by all 
present. For in this, as in the sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper, the Church acts. 



Holy Baptism 205 



Then shall the Minister offer the following Prayer, 
the People kneeling: 

r 

O God of infinite mercy, the Father of all the Deut. y, 16. 
faithful seed, be pleased to grant unto this child an coi. iiij'ao. 
General Con- understanding mind and a sanctified x Tim ' v ' 4 
e epS:opai * heart. May thy providence lead him 
hS"i864. through the dangers, temptations, and 
Hngtilan ig norance of his youth, that he may never 
prayer run i n t Q folly, nor into the evils of an un- 

and fkrr- J ' 

man's Con- bridled appetite. We pray thee so to or- 
sult., same --.,.-•, 

at the close, der the course of his life that, by good 

education, by holy examples, and by thy restrain- 
ing and renewing grace, he may be led to serve 
thee faithfully all his day; so that, when he has 
glorified thee in his generation, and has served the 
Church on earth, he may be received into thine 
eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

Almighty and most merciful Father, let thy lov- 
ing mercy and compassion descend upon these, thy 
servant and handmaid, the parents [or guardians] of 
this child. Grant unto them, we beseech thee, thy 
Holy Spirit, that they may, like Abraham, command 
their household to keep the way of the Lord. Direct 
their actions, and sanctify their hearts, words, and 
purposes, that their whole family may be united to 
our Lord Jesus Christ in the bands of faith, obedi- 
ence, and charity; and that they all, being in this 
life thy holy children by adoption and grace, may be 
admitted into the Church of the first-born in heaven, 
through the merits of thy dear Son, our Savior and 
Redeemer. Ame?i. 



206 History of the Ritual 

The people kneeling, not the minister. They, 
not he, are specifically named. God of infinite 
mercy. This prayer was inserted in 1864, by 
order of General Conference, in the place of 
some short prayers derived from the Anglican 
book. The intent of the prayer is that the 
merciful God will give such grace to the child 
as he grows up, that he may have an under- 
standing mind, to perceive and mark the dis- 
tinctions between right and wrong, and decide 
for those things which make for righteousness. 
And a sanctified heart. Pure by the grace of 
God from earthly defilements, from the dawn 
of youth, as he may have; for unless the 
prayers of God's people uttered in all sin- 
cerity are vain, we may rest assured that He 
who has provided the means will also provide 
the blessing. Dangers. The Church is not 
unmindful of the temptations, dangers, and 
evils resulting from ignorance, which lie about 
the pathway of child-life, marring the bloom 
of its innocency, bringing it into captivity to 
sin, and effacing all early traces of the Holy 
Spirit. Therefore we pray so to order; that is, 
by the inscrutable and manifold wisdom and 
power of God, who holds all lives in the hol- 
low of his hand. Good education in the things 
of God previously promised by the parents — 



Holy Baptism 207 

holy examples of parents and Christian people. 
Restraining. Holding back, repressing the 
growth of evil tendencies. Renewing grace. 
The quickening influence of the indwelling 
Spirit, which keeps the moral tone, the spirit- 
ual qualities, fresh and sweet, invigorating the 
inner life and beautifying the outer. The 
whole prayer is full of energy, and rises to the 
sublime in its pleading for the final redemp- 
tion of the child among the glorious company 
of the redeemed in the immortal society in 
the kingdom of God, and closes with a tender 
appeal for the parents, who in faith, hope, and 
love offer their little one to the Heavenly 
Father. 

Then may the Minister offer extemporary Prayer. 
Then shall be said, all kneeling, 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread: and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
them that trespass against us: and lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine is the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. 
Amen. 

Then. That is, after the extempore prayer, 
if one be offered. All kneeling. Both minister 
and people. The sendee thus fitly closes with 



2o8 History of the Ritual 

the Lord's Prayer constantly used in all 
Church services from the earliest days. The 
Apostolical Constitutions required that the bap- 
tized should repeat this prayer on leaving the 
water. In infant baptism the sponsors recited 
it; but in the Middle Ages, when sacerdotal- 
ism widened the difference between clergy and 
laity, the prayer was reserved to the minister. 
Our Church reverts to the primitive practice 
of sub-apostolic times, it being most fitting 
that all should join in this prayer, which sums 
up all that we can desire for God, for our- 
selves, for our fellow-creatures, and the king- 
dom of heaven. 

For the use of the doxology at the close 
of the prayer, one may consult the critical 
commentaries of Meyer and other exegetes. 



Chapter X 

ADULT BAPTISM 

fl 443. Order for the Administration of Baptism to such 
as are of Riper Years. 

Dearly Beloved, forasmuch as all men are con- job xiv, 4 . 
ceived and born in sin ; and that which is born of john'iil p. 
Source, the flesh is flesh, and they that are in M 2 a "- x ™' "ft 
f c£S$. 9 the flesh can not please God, but live in %gg\s- 
H.D.1547. gin, committing many actual transgres- Rom -vi, 3, 4 . 
sions ; and our Savior Christ saith, Except a man be 
born of water and of the Spirit he can not enter into 
the kingdom of God: I beseech you to call upon God 
the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that of 
his bounteous goodness he will grant to these persons 
that which by nature they can not have ; that they y 
being baptized with water, may also be baptized 
with the Holy Ghost, and, being received into 
Christ's holy Church, may continue lively Members 
of the same. 

Dearly beloved. The address is to the con- 
gregation. The fact that the candidates may 
already have experienced the gift of the Spirit 
in regeneration, which is the reason why they 
desire baptism, would seem to render the call 
upon God unnecessary; but only seemingly, 

not truly so, when we consider the nature and 
14 209 



210 History of the Ritual 

end of Christian baptism. The centurion in 
the Acts was baptized by Peter, although he 
had received the Holy Ghost, and the purport 
of this prayer is that the Holy Spirit may bless 
the surrender of the candidates to the service 
of God and membership in his Church with 
his renewing and strengthening grace. 

The?i shall the Minister say, 

Let us pray. 

i Tim. vi, is, 16. Almighty and Immortal God, the aid of all that 
2Cor. X vi, 4 2. need, the helper of all that flee to thee for succor, che 

&. xviii 5 ; it' life of them that believe > and the resurrec- Salisbury 
Actsii, 38/39. ti on f the dead: we call upon thee for D CU ^ m _ 

1 Sam.'i, 27, 28. these persons, that they, coming to thy ™?J55SL 
Matt, vii, 7, 8. __ , ^ . f ' _,f _ . ; praestdtum, 

Luke xi, 13. Holy Baptism, may also be filled with etc » 

1 j™hn v',6-8. thy Holy Spirit. Receive them, O Lord, as thou hast 

RevJVS 6. x " promised by thy well-beloved Son, saying, Ask, and 

ye shall receive ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and 

it shall be opened unto you : so give now unto us 

that ask ; let us that seek, find ; open the gate unto 

us that knock: that these persons may enjoy the 

everlasting benediction of thy heavenly washing, 

and may come to the eternal kingdom which thou 

hast promised, by Christ our L,ord. Amen. 

Then shall the minister say. He is not 
directed to kneel. Standing in the place of 
authority to administer the ordinance of the 
Church according to the commission of Christ 



Adult Baptism 211 

i 

Jesus, he should remain standing till at the 
close of the service, when, his ministration 
completed, he joins with the people in the 
Lord's Prayer, all kneeling. The people only 
should kneel, as the next rubric shows they are 
to stand up. Almighty and Immortal God. 
This touching and most solemn appeal to the 
most merciful God voices the need of every 
human heart, and in God finds its satisfying 
answer. As our aid, he binds up the wounds 
sin has made, comforts us, and strengthens us 
with the abundance of his enriching grace; 
faint and weary in our conflicts against the 
fiery assaults of the Evil One, he is our help 
in difficulty, our succor in danger. The spring 
of all comfort, the fountain of all joy, the 
ever-bubbling source of the soul's sweet peace, 
he is the life of them that believe, and as the 
restorer of the life that is withered, the resur- 
rection of the dead. Receive them, as they in 
this moment of humiliation, prayer, and faith 
surrender their hearts. Everlasting benedic- 
tion. The eternal peace of God flowing from 
the consciousness of Divine acceptance of thy 
heavenly washing, the spiritual cleansing of the 
Holy Spirit figured in the washing of baptism. 
Amen. This should at all times be said in an 
audible voice by all the people. 



2i2 History of the Ritual 

Then shall the People sta?id up, a?id the Minister 

shall say : 

Hear the words of the Gospel, written by St. John. 
[Chap, iii, 1-8.] 

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nico- 
demus, a ruler of the Jews : the same came to Jesus 
by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that 
thou art a teacher come from God; for no man can 
do these miracles that thou doest except God be 
with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, 
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, 
he can not see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus 
saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is 
old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's 
womb, and be born ? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, 
I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and 
of the Spirit he can not enter into the kingdom of 
God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and 
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel 
not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest 
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it com- 
eth, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is 
born of the Spirit. 

People stand up. In the early Church it was 
the universal custom for the people to stand 
during the reading of the Gospel ("Apost. 
Const., II, 57; Sozomen, "Hist. Eccl. Lib./' 
VII, c. 19), and in this rubric we see the an- 
cient practice. Well beloved. The plural form 
will, of course, be changed into the singular 



Adult Baptism 213 

in the following exhortation when questions 
are asked. The Holy Scriptures and the writ- 
ings of the primitive Church show that some 
interrogation preceded baptism. (Acts viii, 
37.) Tertullian refers to the vow of renunci- 
ation of Satan ("De Conn. Mitit."), and 
Cyprian says, "Moreover, the very interroga- 
tion which is put in caption is a witness of the 
truth." ("Ante-Nicene Fathers," Airier. Ed., 
Vol. V., 376.) The earliest sacramentary ex- 
tant, that of Gelasius and Gregory, has the 
same form of renunication as the Salisbury 
Use, from which this form is taken. Promise 
made by Christ. . . . Your promise. The 
baptismal covenant is of two parts, as all cove- 
nants are, the Divine and the human. On the 
Divine side, it is the promise of all the saving 
benefits of the atonement here and eternally; 
on the human side, it is a surrender, complete 
and forever, to the will and service of Al- 
mighty God. 

Then shall the Minister demand of each of the Persons 
to be baptized: 
Ques. Dost thou renounce the devil and all his , Pet v> 8> 
Compare works, the vain pomp and glory of the * J ohn ul » 8 » 9 ; 
qse, world, with all covetous desires of the Gal - v » I 9~ 21 - 
Baptizanti. same, and the carnal desires of the flesh, 
so that thou wilt not follow nor be led by them? 
Ans. I renounce them all. 



214 History of the Ritual 

Ques. Dost thou believe in God the Father Al- 
mighty, Maker of heaven and earth? 

And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son our 
Lord ; and that he was conceived by the Holy Ghost, 
born of the Virgin Mary; that he suffered under 
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; that 
he rose again the third day; that he ascended into 
heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the 
Father Almighty; and from thence shall come again 
at the end of the world, to judge the quick and the 
dead? 

And dost thou believe in the Holy Ghost; the 
holy catholic Church ; the communion of saints ; the 
forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; 
and everlasting life after death? 
Acts viii, 36-38. Ans. All this I steadfastly believe. 

Ques. Wilt thou be baptized in this faith? 

Ans. Such is my desire. 

Ques. Wilt thou then obediently keep God's 
holy will and commandments, and walk in the same 
all the days of thy life ? 

Ans. I will endeavor so to do, God being my 
helper. 

Demand of each. All standing or each one 
rising as he is addressed. In this solemn cove- 
nant with God and profession of farth, each 
one must answer for himself alone, and each 
question must therefore be put to each candi- 
date separately, not to all at once. Dost thou 
renounce. In thine heart and now. In passing 
from the kingdom and "power of Satan" into 



Adult Baptism 215 



the kingdom of God, we must declare our vol- 
untary rejection of the Evil One and all that 
his name and history and character implies. 
And his works. All active and passive mani- 
festations of antagonism to the revelation of 
God in Jesus Christ, and to the forces that 
make righteousness and true holiness in 
Church, State, family, and other social life of 
man. The vain pomp. In this old word pomp, 
which comes from ^0^% pompa, we see the 
idolatrous rites, the altars, the statues, and 
temples of the heathen gods. It carries us 
back to the days of the Arena, when Christian 
martyrs were thrown to wild beasts for their 
faith, to the gladiatorial combats and relig- 
ious processions, which the word strictly 
means, of the Greeks and Romans. In the 
"Apostolical Constitutions" the form is, "I 
renounce Satan and his works and his pomps," 
etc. (Tertullian.) I renounce "the devil, his 
pomps, and his angel." ("De Corona Milit. ;" 
so, also, Ambrose of Milan, Cyril of Jeru- 
salem, and many others.) And glory of the 
zvorld. The sinful luxuries and illusory pleas- 
ures, wasteful of time and money, ministering 
only to the flesh. Covetous desires of the same. 
Not simply an external rejection, but an in- 
ternal rejection of them, is required, so that 



216 History of the Ritual 

there shall be no desire for their excitement 
and glamour, nor shall they have any fasci- 
nating influence over the mind and heart, in 
which Christ dwells Lord of all. / renounce 
them all. Emphatic declaration of inward and 
outward severance of allegiance to or desire 
for perishing and sinful vanities. 

Dost thou believe. Following the rejection 
of Satan is acceptance of Christ in the Chris- 
tian revelation, and an open profession of faith 
in the same. This is the Vow of Belief. 
The declaration of belief rests upon the words 
of the Lord, "He that believeth and is bap- 
tized'' (Mark xvi, 16); and from the instance 
of Philip and the eunuch (Acts viii, 37), we 
may conclude that, from the very beginning, 
the Church demanded an open profession of 
faith in the principles of Christianity, not in 
any theological or philosophical explanation 
or interpretation of them, but in the facts. 
These fundamental facts or principles are 
summed up in this so-called Apostles' Creed, 
and the same may be found in nearly all the 
writings of the Ante-Nicene period back to the 
apostolic days — Irenseus, Origen, Tertullian, 
Gregory Thaumaturgus, all mention the same 
doctrines, and the same chief articles of faith 
may be found in the public creeds of the 



Adult Baptism 217 

apostolic Churches of Jerusalem, Caesarea, 
and Antioch. In God. The eternal, personal 
Deity. This opposes Agnosticism and all 
forms of Pantheistic teaching. The Father. 
The ground and source of all existence, and 
as a Father merciful, just, and loving. Al- 
mighty. Having in himself underived, eternal, 
and infinite power in all worlds, seen and un- 
seen. Maker of heaven and earth. The Cre- 
ator and Sustainer of all worlds and all therein. 
This is opposed to all anti-theistic doctrines 
of materialism. And in Christ Jesus. The his- 
toric God-man Jesus of the New Testament, 
the Messiah of prophecy, prophet, priest, and 
king. (Acts x, 38.) His only begotten Son. 
Eternally with the Father in the unity of the 
Holy Ghost, and begotten as to his humanity 
through the Eternal Spirit of life. Our Lord. 
Master and Savior and Divine Object of wor- 
ship and love. (Acts x, 36; Rom. x, 13; xiv, 
8, 9.) Conceived by the Holy Ghost. His hu- 
man nature originated by the immediate 
power of the pure and holy life-giving and 
form-fashioning Spirit of God. Born of the 
Virgin Mary. Son of God, seed of woman, 
contracting, by reason of his holy origin, no 
sin or defilement in, through, or by agency of 
human birth channels. (Gal. iv, 4.) Suffered 



218 History of the Ritual 

under Pontius Pilate. Really and truly suf- 
fered, as having a real humanity, for the sins 
of the world. Was crucified . . . dead. 
No seeming death, no swoon, but real death 
as the sacrifice for sin, making atonement and 
reconciliation. And buried. Third great fact 
of the record of Christ's atonement. Rose 
again. As he predicted, "for our justification," 
and "declared to be the Son of God with 
power." (Rom. i, 4.) Ascended into heaven. 
This same Jesus, who died and rose again, 
went up, forty days after his resurrection, to 
the unseen world of everlasting rest and felic- 
ity, and sitteth, ruling and directing, at the 
right hand of God the Father Almighty; that is, 
at the center of infinite power and wielding 
all power. (Mark xvi, 19; Heb. i, 3.) From 
thence. His throne of grace and power in 
heaven (Acts iii, 21). He shall come again. In 
visible manner. At the end of the zvorld. 
These words are not in the Creed, but are 
put in to direct the mind to his final coming 
and the purpose. To judge the quick and the 
dead. Those then living and all generations 
from creation according to their works. 
(John v, 28, 29; Acts xviii, 31 ; 1 Cor. v, 10.) 
In the Holy Ghost. The third of the Divine 
Persons in the Blessed Trinity. Faith has been 



Adult Baptism 219 

professed in the existence and personality of 
the Father and of the Son, and we now affirm 
our belief in the Holy Spirit, revealed to us 
in the Scriptures and in our religious experi- 
ence. The holy catholic Church. Consisting of 
"every kindred, tongue, and people" (Rev. 
v, 9), spread throughout the whole earth, and 
holding that form of doctrine once delivered 
by the authority of God. (Rom. vi, 27.) 
Every congregation, Church, or society of 
Christians baptized in, and holding to, this 
form of doctrine is a part of the Universal 
Church, and as the parts are of the same na- 
ture as the whole, though they may differ in 
manners and customs, each such Church may 
be called the Universal or Catholic Church. 
This historic and significant title belongs 
equally, therefore, to all who profess the faith 
of Christ. The communion of saints. The 
Church in heaven and on earth is one Church. 
Fellowship in this true Church is communion 
with the saints now, and of all ages and all 
climes. The forgiveness of sins by God, 
through the atonement by Christ for sin. 
The resurrection of the body. In the Greek and 
Latin copies of the creed, flesh is used here 
instead of body. The reference is to the res- 
urrection at the last day. (John v, 29; xi, 24; 



220 History of the Ritual 

Acts xxiv, 15; i Cor. xv.) Everlasting life. 
The climax of redemption, the sure destiny 
of the holy ones who keep their baptismal 
vows. Thus the Creed closes with a declara- 
tion of triumphant faith in a glorious immor- 
tality. Steadfastly. Firmly, with implied idea 
of immovable conviction for all time. Wilt 
thou be baptised. Compulsory baptism, under 
any circumstances, is from its very nature null 
and void. In this faith. Not in any other. 
This is pointed, distinct, and emphatic. It 
does not mean in this particular Apostles' 
Creed, nor in its words ; but in the faith of the 
Gospel, its facts and doctrines relating to the 
article here mentioned. My desire. This im- 
plies that the candidate understands the sig- 
nificance of the act, and comprehends the 
simple meaning of the faith he professes. 
Obediently keep God's holy will. This is the 
Vow of Obedience. It was not in the primi- 
tive offices of baptism, nor in the English 
Ritual prior to the revision of A. D. 1661. It 
was probably inserted at that time by Bishop 
Cosin (Blunt, "Annot"), who founded it on 
similar declarations used in ancient times in 
the Eastern Church. (See Bingham, "Chris- 
tian Antiquities/') / will endeavor so to do. 
This does not mean "attempt," but a deter- 



Adult Baptism 221 

mined effort, with full confidence of success. 
God being my helper. Human will alone can 
not resist evil forces, because it is previously 
handicapped by inherited weakness. 

Then shall the Minister say : 

O Merciful God, grant that all carnal affections 
may die in these persons, and that all things be- 
. longing to the Spirit may live and grow 

authority, in them. Amen. 

the Baptism Grant that they may have power 
of Infants. and strength to have v i ctory) an( i tri- 
umph against the devil, the world, and the flesh. 
Amen. 

Grant that they, being here dedicated to thee by 
our Office and Ministry, may also be endued with 
heavenly virtues, and everlastingly rewarded, 
through thy mercy, O blessed Lord God, who 
dost live, and govern all things, world without 
end. Ame?i. 

Almighty, Ever-living God, whose most dearly- 
beloved Son Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of 
our sins, did shed out of his most precious side 
both water and blood; and gave commandment to 
his disciples that they should go teach all nations, 
and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; regard, we be- 
seech thee, our supplications; and grant that the 
persons now to be baptized may receive the fullness 
of thy grace, and ever remain in the number of thy 
faithful and elect children, through Jesus Christ 
our Iyord. Amen. 



222 History of the Ritual 

Then shall the Minister ask the name of each Person 
to be baptized, and shall sprinkle or pour Water upon 
him {or, if he shall desire it, shall immerse him in 
Water), saying : 

N., I baptize thee in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Then shall be said the Lords Prayer, all kneeling. 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread: and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
them that trespass against us: lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is 
the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. 
Amen. 

The?i may the Minister conchide with extemporary 
Prayer. 

Although there is no rubric directing the 
posture of the candidate while receiving holy 
baptism, whether he shall remain standing or 
shall kneel, yet it seems to be the proper way 
for him to devoutly kneel and bow the head, 
invoking on his own behalf the baptism of the 
Holy Ghost. The minister may pass from one 
to the other if there be several candidates, 
they all kneeling at the same time. The Lord's 
Prayer should be said audibly by the whole 
congregation, all kneeling, minister and 
people. 



Chapter XI 

RECEPTION OF PROBATIONERS AND 
MEMBERS 

Introductory Note 

In the Primitive Church the laity were divided 
into two classes — the Karrjxovnevoi, catechumens, or learn, 
ers, and the itiotoi, believers, or full members. The 
former recall the proselytes of synagogue times, 
and correspond, in their general relation to the 
Church, to our probationers, who are, in the mean- 
ing of the term, catechumens. The word is used in 
several places in the New Testament : Acts iii, 25 ; 
Rom. ii, 18; Gal. vi, 6; 1 Cor. xiv, 9. Catechumens 
were candidates for baptism and Church member- 
ship. They were placed under the care and instruc- 
tion of a teacher in divine things called the catechist, 
who taught them the doctrines of Christianity and 
the duties of a Christian. Not only persons of ma- 
ture age, but children also, were enrolled as proba- 
tioners, as we learn from Tertullian, who, arguing 
that "according to the circumstances and disposi- 
tion, and even age, of each individual, the delay of 
of baptism is preferable," says concerning children : 
"Let them come while they are learning; let them 
come while they are being taught whither to come." 
The condition required for enrollment as a catechu- 
men was the same as that required by the General 
Rules of our Church — for Wesley ever had the prac- 
223 



224 History of the Ritual 

tice of the Primitive Church before him — " a desire 
to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from 
their sins." Perhaps the analogy would be more 
complete if we compared these catechumens with 
those earnest souls among us known as seekers of 
religion, and indeed this very name itself was not 
unknown to the Church ; for by the writers of that 
time the ordinances were sometimes called desid- 
erata, since they were so earnestly sought by the 
catechumen. 

Great interest was always felt by the Church for 
the probationers. Augustine tells that, in their pub- 
lic prayers, it was the custom to pray for the learn- 
ers, and Chrysostom gives the form used in the 
public prayer : " Let us pray that the most gracious 
and merciful God would hear the prayers of the 
catechumens." Careful instruction in the precepts 
of the Gospel was diligently imparted, and no one 
was admitted into the number of "the faithful" 
whose life and conduct were not such as were worthy 
of their high calling. Thus, Origen says that " Chris- 
tians are so far from admitting any hand over head 
that they first pre-examine the minds of those that 
desire to become their auditors ; and having privately 
had trial of them before they received them into the 
congregation, when they perceive them fully resolved 
to lead a pious and religious life, then they admit 
them in their distinct orders ; some that are newly 
admitted, but not yet baptized; others that have 
given some evidence and demonstration of their 
purpose to live as becomes Christians, among whom 
there are governors appointed to inspect and inquire 
into the life and manners of those who have been 



Reception of Members 225 

admitted, that they may expel and turn off those 
candidates of religion who answer not their profes- 
sion, and heartily entertain those that do, and by 
daily converse build them up and make them bet- 
ter." (Cave, "Prim. Chris.," p. 17, 18.) 

The privileges of full membership — such as par- 
taking of the Lord's Supper, which was regarded as 
the highest privilege possible ; deeper instruction 
in Christian doctrine; taking part in the public 
transactions of the Church and the election of min- 
isters and other officers — were all denied the proba- 
tioner until he had passed the period of his trial and 
was found faithful. 

The requirements in the following office are in 
harmony with the teachings of the apostles and the 
practice of the Primitive Church. The failure of the 
Church and of the ministry to perform their duty 
toward those received on probation is more often a 
cause for regret than the failure of probationers to 
prove faithful to their vows when carefully watched 
over and intelligently instructed. 

^| 445. Form for Receiving Persons into the Church after 
Probation. 

On the day appoi?ited, all that are to be received into 
the Church shall be called forward, and the Min- 
ister, addresssyig the Congregation, shall say : 
Dearly-beloved Brethren, the Scriptures 
teach us that the Church is the household of God, 
the body of which Christ is the head ; and that it is 
the design of the Gospel to bring together in one all 
who are in Christ. The fellowship of the Church is 
the communion that its members enjoy one with an- 

15 



History of the Ritual 



other. The ends of this fellowship are, the main- 
tenance of sound doctrine and of the ordinances of 
Christian worship, and the exercise of that power of 
godly admonition and discipline which Christ has 
committed to his Church for the promotion of holi- 
ness. It is the duty of all men to unite in this fel- 
lowship; for it is only those that "be planted in the 
house of the Lord " that " shall flourish in the courts 
of our God." Its more particular duties are, to pro- 
mote peace and unity; to bear one another's bur- 
dens ; to prevent each other's stumbling; to seek the 
intimacy of friendly society among themselves; to 
continue steadfast in the faith and worship of the 
Gospel; and to pray and sympathize with each 
other. Among its privileges are, peculiar incite- 
ments to holiness from the hearing of God's Word 
and sharing in Christ's ordinances ; the being placed 
under the watchful care of Pastors; and the enjoy- 
ment of the blessings which are promised only to 
those who are of the Household of Faith. Into this 
holy fellowship the perso?is before you, who have al- 
ready received the Sacrament of Baptism, and have 
been under the care of proper leaders for six months 
on Trial, come seeking admission. We now propose, 
in the fear of God, to question them as x to their faith 
and purposes, that you may know that they are 
proper persons to be admitted into the Church. 

The Scriptures . . . the Church. The 
Church here signifies the Church in general, 
the universal body of Christians; that is, the 
Church visible, as in Acts v, 1 1 ; Acts viii, 3 ; 
1 Cor. i, 2; 1 Cor. x, 32; xi, 22. Christ the 



Reception of Members 227 

head. (Eph. i, 22; Eph. iii, 6-1 1; Col. i, 18.) 
''And He is the Head of the Body, the 
Church." Communion. From the beginning 
the Church has nourished belief in "the com- 
munion of saints." This communion is the 
social brotherly relation in Christ Jesus that 
its members enjoy one with another, in comfort- 
ing, encouraging, giving aid and sympathy, 
and showing every kindness, tenderness, and 
Christly love to one another as members of 
the same holy family, in which it is the pur- 
pose of God to comprise humanity. The ends. 
The aims, or purposes. Maintenance of sound 
doctrine. Doctrines that are not preached die 
out, and the purpose of the Church is to trans- 
mit in its purity the faith once delivered "to 
the saints." The doctrines of Christ were not 
delivered to the ministry alone, but to the 
body of Christians constituting the Church, 
as is evidenced by the addresses in the open- 
ing verses of the Epistles of the apostles. The 
ordinances of Christian zvorship. The sacra- 
ments and the ministry of the Word in public 
service. Christ has committed these to his 
Church, and it is the duty of every member of 
the Church to maintain them. Pozver of godly 
admonition. The power of discipline is the en- 
dowment of Christ, given by him in the power 



228 History of the Ritual 

of binding and loosing. . When exercised in a 
godly manner, the act of the Church is the 
act of Christ himself; for when speaking on 
this subject he said, "When two or three are 
gathered together in my name, there am I in 
the midst of them." For the promotion of 
holiness. This is the end of teaching and all 
worship — holiness of life. In so far as the 
members are holy, to that degree the Church 
is holy and without blame. Hence holiness of 
the Church begins with the individual. Peace. 
Strife, conflict, and all forms of antagonism 
are foreign to the brotherly love which Christ 
lays down as the law of life in his earthly king- 
dom. Where strife and contention destroy, 
the Spirit of God can not dwell, and the duty 
of every member is to develop those graces 
which make for peace, both by precept and 
example. Unity. The constant exhortation 
of the Apostle Paul to the Churches is to unity 
of faith and mind, and this is the burden of 
those holy men who succeeded them as teach- 
ers and pastors. Bear one another's burdens. 
And, as Paul teaches, "so fulfill the law of 
Christ ;" for it is only by practical application 
of the law of love to the affairs of life that we 
demonstrate the possession in our hearts of 
"love for the brethren." In the society of 



Reception of Members 229 

truth, theory and practice go hand in hand. 
Friendly society. Christians for Christians. 
Association with unbelievers, to the neglect 
of fellowship with the followers of Christ, first 
destroys the bloom of holy living, and then 
corrupts the heart. The children of the light 
can not walk in the darkness without becom- 
ing blind even as others. That you may know. 
The Church must preserve itself against the 
admission into its fold of those who are not 
in heart, in soul, in purpose, one with those 
within, otherwise there would soon be no dis- 
tinction between the Church and the world. 
The admission, therefore, of members into the 
Christian Church is among the most impor- 
tant acts of the Church, because of what it in- 
volves and the fearful consequences resulting 
from the lack of care in opening the gates of 
the fold. 

Then, addressing the Applicants for Admission, the 
Minister shall say : 
Dearly Beloved, you are come hither seeking 
the great privilege of union with the Church our 
Savior has purchased with his own blood. We re- 
joice in the grace of God vouchsafed unto you, in 
that he has called you to be his followers, and that 
thus far you have run well. You have heard how 
blessed are the privileges, and how solemn are the 
duties, of membership in Christ's Church ; and be- 



230 History of the Ritual 

fore you are fully admitted thereto, it is proper that 
you do here publicly renew your vows, confess your 
faith, and declare your purpose, by answering the 
following questions : 

Do you here, in the presence of God and of this 
Congregation, renew the solemn promise contained 
in the Baptismal Covenant, ratifying and confirming 
the same, and acknowledging yourselves bound faith- 
fully to observe and keep that Covenant ? 

Ans. I do. 

Have you saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? 

Ans. I trust I have. 

Do you believe in the Doctrines of the Holy 
Scriptures as set forth in the Articles of Religion of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church? 

Ans. I do. 

Will you cheerfully be governed by the Rules 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, hold sacred 
the Ordinances of God, and endeavor, as much as 
in you lies, to promote the welfare of your brethren 
and the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom? 

Ans. I will. 

Will you contribute of your earthly substance, 
according to your ability, to the support of the gos- 
pel and the various benevolent enterprises of the 
Church? 

Ans. I will. 

Addressing the applicants. They should 
now stand, as this is the proper form at this 
time when assuming the vows of Church 
membership. The minister should not hurry 
over this most solemn event in the life of a 



Reception of Members 



231 



Christian. But rather, with gravity of man- 
ner, dignity of tone, and tender solicitude, 
state clearly and fully the duties and privileges 
and conditions of membership with the faith- 
ful. In the baptismal covenant. The applicant, 
having been under the care of proper leaders, 
is certainly instructed in the baptismal cove- 
nant, in the religious creed of Methodism as 
expressed in the Articles, and in the polity of 
the Church. Saving faith. By this question 
no theological or technical proposition is im- 
plied. What constitutes saving faith may be 
the subject of inquiry elsewhere ; but here the 
appeal is to the experience of the candidate, 
to the consciousness in which all states and 
acts of the knowing self are known. Repent- 
ance, faith, trust, love, are all states or acts of 
which any rational being may be conscious, 
and when the object toward which these 
acts are directed is the Lord Jesus Christ, 
then the authority of God's Holy Word is war- 
rant, sure and unchangeable, for believing that 
one thus experiencing these states or acts has 
saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Doctrines. 
. . . Articles. Not that the Articles of Re- 
ligion contain all the doctrines of Scripture, 
or that each Article contains all there is in 
the doctrine it sets forth, but that these Ar- 



232 History of the Ritual 

tides are in harmony with the teachings of 
Scripture. The form of the question is very 
awkward, for it seems as if the Scriptures are 
to be. believed through the Articles interpret- 
ing them; whereas, the real proposition must 
be whether the teachings of the Articles are 
the teaching of Scripture. Will you cheerfully 
be governed ? Obedience, piety, brotherly love, 
and holy zeal are the four notes of a useful 
Church membership. Where any one of these 
is lacking, there is loss of power in the Chris- 
tian life, and for peace and fruitfulness there 
is only barrenness and discontent. Will you 
contribute f The duty of supporting the gospel 
is not based primarily on ecclesiastical require- 
ments, but on the express command of God. 
(Matt, x, 10; i Cor. ix, 14.) According to 
your ability. No rule as to amount is laid 
down in the New Testament as a rigid law; 
the conscience of the Christian must decide. 
But the giving must be according to financial 
ability, as the New Testament directs. For 
this measure an enlightened conscience will 
always approve. More or less than this stand- 
ard is a violation of the law of honesty, either 
relative to one's secular obligations, or, if less 
than one's ability, then in relation to the gos- 
pel of the Lord. 



Reception of Members 233 

Then the Minister, addressing the Church, shall say: 

Brethren, these persons having given satisfactory 
responses to our inquiries, have any of you reason 
to allege why they should not be received into Full 
Membership in the Church? 

Addressing the Church. Although good 
human sense and true Christian spirit would 
suggest that if any one knows of any cause 
why an applicant should not be received, the 
same should be communicated to the pastor 
or to the leader prior to the day appointed 
for his reception ; nevertheless the sense of re- 
sponsibility on the part of the Church for the 
good name and spiritual character of the body 
of Christ must be always awakened and ap- 
pealed to. "Ye are members one of another. ,, 

No objections bei?ig alleged, the Minister shall say to 
the Candidates: 

We welcome you to the communion of the Church 
of God; and, in testimony of our Christian affection 
and the cordiality with which we receive you, I 
hereby extend to you the right hand of fellowship ; 
and may God grant that you may be a faithful and 
useful member of the Church militant till you are 
called to the fellowship of the Church triumphant, 
which is "without fault before the throne of God." 

Then shall the Minister offer exte7nporary Prayer. 



234 History of the Ritual 

To the communion of the Church of God. To 
all those who, being born of God, truly enter 
the communion of the Church visible it may- 
be said, as the apostle writing to the Hebrews 
said: "Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and 
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and to countless hosts, the joyful 
assembly of angels, and to the Church of the 
first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to 
God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of 
just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Medi- 
ator of the new covenant, and to the blood of 
sprinkling that speaketh better than that of 
Abel." (Heb. xii, R. V.) 

The right hand of fellowship. Apostolic 
practice. "And when James, Cephas, and 
John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the 
grace that was given unto me, they gave to 
me and Barnabas the right hands of fellow- 
ship." 

In closing these notes, I am constrained 
to observe, after long and profitable study 
during which I seemed to have lived again in 
the bright morning and dewy freshness of 
the early Church, that if those who take upon 
themselves the vows of fellowship in the 
Church of God would, with the New Testa- 
ment open before them, thoughtfully and 



Reception of Members 235 

prayerfully read Wesley's "Character of a 
Methodist" and Cave's "Primitive Christian- 
ity ; or, The Religion of the Ancient Christians 
in the First Ages of the Gospel/' the tone of 
piety, the aggressive faith, the holy zeal, the 
love and power of primitive Methodism would 
be greatly restored, and the character of the 
Church and the glory of God greatly exalted 
in all the earth. 



Chapter XII 

THE LORD'S SUPPER 

Introductory Note 

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper has always 
been regarded as the most sacred ordinance of relig- 
ion, the most solemn rite of Christian worship. Al- 
though many names have been given to it in all the 
centuries since its institution, such as the Com- 
munion, the Eucharist, Oblation, Mystery, Sacrifice, 
Sacrament of the Altar, the Body of Christ, Viaticum, 
and numerous other appellations; yet in the Gospels 
which contain the account of its origin, no name is 
given it. In the Epistle to the Corinthians it is 
called "the Lord's Supper," and also "Communion." 
(i Cor. x, 1 6.) 

Our Divine Lord instituted this holy rite the 
night before his death, and charged his apostles to 
continue it in remembrance of him till his coming 
again. Of this there can be no doubt. It is true 
that of the evangelists, Luke only mentions the 
continuance of the rite in remembrance of the de- 
parted Lord, and that some critics, as Westcott and 
Hort, have considered these words in Luke to be an 
interpolation. Recently, Professor McGiffert, follow- 
ing the lead of Professors Gardiner, Riickert, Jiili- 
cher, Stendlein, Martineau, and others, contends that 
it is not absolutely certain that Jesus instituted the 
Supper and directed his disciples to eat and drink in 
236 



The Lord's Supper 237 

remembrance of him. But in this statement he 
overlooks the larger and more critical view of Wendt 
("Lehre Jesu," Eng. Trans., pp. 318-320), who shows, 
In a masterful way and in perfect harmony with all 
the facts, that Jesus instituted a sacrificial meal in 
connection with his sacrificial death (Mark xiv, 22-24 J 
I Cor. xi, 23-25), and that his disciples " were in fu- 
ture to repeat this sacrificial meal in remembrance 
of him." But over against all so-called views of 
modern critics, and all emendations of the text of 
Luke by which the peculiar words concerning the 
perpetuity of the rite are eliminated, we must set 
the unimpeachable testimony of St. Paul himself, 
who emphatically (see the position of fyw) states 
that he received from the Lord a special revelation 
on this subject: "For I have received of the Lord 
that which also I delivered unto you, That in the 
same night in which he was betrayed, he took bread : 
and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and 
said, Take, eat ; this is my body, which is broken 
for you : this do in remembrance of me. After the 
same manner also he took the cup, when he had 
supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my 
blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remem- 
brance of me." That Luke should record the words 
" in remembrance of me," and not the other evangel- 
ists, is not sufficient reason (even aided, as Westcott 
and Hort may be, by the omission of ancient MSS.) 
for regarding them as interpolations. In Luke's 
Gospel there are phrases and ideas which are found 
nowhere else except in Paul's writings (as is also 
true of Matthew's Gospel) ; compare, for instance, 
1 Tim. v, 18, with Luke x, 7, and it is but natural 



238 History of the Ritual 

to regard Luke's statement as evidence of his de- 
pendence upon Paul for the facts he states concern- 
ing the lord's Supper. 

Concerning the nature of this holy sacrament, 
what it is we really receive or do not receive in the 
partaking of it, is a question which has long divided 
the Christian world. But passing by the doctrines 
of Romanists, Lutherans, Calvinists, Reformed, High 
Anglicans — the history of which may be readily ob- 
tained in the works on the History of Dogma, by 
Baumgarten — Crusius, Harnack, Hagenbach, Beck, 
Meier, Nupert, Pusey on the Real Presence, it is 
Sufficient to state, in the words of our Eighteenth 
Article of Religion, that "the body of Christ is 
given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after a 
heavenly and spiritual manner. And the means 
whereby the body of Christ is received and eaten in 
the Supper is faith." This teaching excludes tran- 
substantiation, as it does consubstantiation, and the 
bald doctrine of the Zwinglians that the Eucharist 
is nothing more than a commemoration. He who 
in true faith partakes of the symbols, believing the 
words of Christ's institution, does really partake of 
the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, for by faith he 
"discerns the Lord's Body." (1 Cor. xi, 29.) The 
not discerning the Lord's Body is condemnation. 
St. Paul regarded irreverence in the use of the Con- 
secrated Elements, and un faith in the reception of 
them, as a most heinous crime ; for so he writes to 
the Corinthians, " Whosoever shall eat the bread or 
drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty 
of the Body and Blood of the Lord" thus placing the 
guilty partaker of the Eucharist on the same level 



The Lord's Supper 239 

with the murderers of Christ, those who crucified 
the Lord of glory. As a recent writer on Apostolic 
Christianity (H. H, Henson, B. D., Fellow of All 
Souls' College, Oxford, "Apostolic Chris., Notes and 
Inferences mainly Based on St. Paul's Epistles to 
the Corinthians"), truly observes: "It is the undis- 
cerning, undiscriminating reception of the Sacra- 
ment, the reception which makes no difference 
between those hallowed Elements and common food, 
which sees nothing more in them than the lowly 
creatures of bread and wine they are, and continue 
to be, which has no reverence because it has no 
faith. 'For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and 
drinketh judgment wito himself, if he discern not the 
Body' This blindness to the spiritual dignity at- 
taching to the Sacrament was, in essence, the very 
fault of the Jews, who murdered the Prince of Life. 
They were so gross of understanding, so carnal- 
minded, that when the Spiritual King stood before 
them they could — in the phrase of the prophet — see 
no comeliness in him to move their desire. So we can 
recognize the real identity of disposition between 
those who despise Christ present in the Sacrament, 
and those who despised Him before the tribunal of 
Pilate. Both were, in the awful language of St. 
Paul, 'guilty of the Body and the Blood of the Lord. 1 " 

The materials are bread and wine. No other can \^ 
be used. The bread, such as was used at the Paschal 
feast, was unleavened, and this our Lord used at the 
institution of this sacrament ; for it is written in 
Matt, xxvi, 26: "As they were eating, Jesus took 
rhv aprov \the bread, or loaf j, and blessed it, and brake 
it." No stress, however, is put by the New Testa- 



240 History of the Ritual 

ment on the kind of bread; but stress is placed on 
the significant fact that Christ blessed it and broke 
it. If, then, the acts of Christ in the institution of 
this holy sacrament are to be imitated because of 
their significance, as his words of institution are to 
be repeated — without which there is no consecration, 
and therefore no sacrament — it follows that the offi- 
ciating minister should break the bread. The wine 
used at the Passover was pure wine. The kind of 
wine is not mentioned. Our Ritual demands the 
unfermented juice of the grape. But there should 
be no mixture of water with it, although this prac- 
tice dates from early times. 

The time. As the Supper was instituted at night 
(Matt, xxvi, 20; 1 Cor. xi, 23), the first Christians 
Seem to have celebrated its observance at this time 
(Acts xx, 7) ; but not always, as it would appear from 
Acts ii, 46 ; 1 Cor. xvi, 2. Very early in the Primi- 
tive Church, Sunday became the regular day for the 
celebration of the Lord's Supper. Justin Martyr 
says, "On the day called Sunday, all who live in 
cities or in the country gather together in one place," 
and then he describes the observance of the sacra- 
ment at that time. But this observance was not 
confined to Sunday. There is ample evidence in 
Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Cyprian to the fact that 
daily communion was not uncommon. 

From the first, the faithful only in Christ Jesus 
were allowed to partake of the sacred elements. 
Justin, recording the practice of his day, writes: 
"And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of 
which no one is allowed to partake but the man 
who believes that the things which we teach are 



The Lord's Supper 241 

true, and who has been washed with the washing 
that is for the remission of sins, and unto regenera- 
tion, and who so lives as Christ enjoined." (Apol. I, 
chap. 66.) It might appear from the Invitation in 
the Ritual that only such persons now are invited ; 
but in our opinion it would be putting a too critical 
interpretation upon that Invitation if it should 
rigorously exclude a repentant sinner, who, in his 
heart, " intended to lead a new life." Nevertheless, 
no profane or wicked person should, under any cir- 
cumstances, be permitted to take this Sacrament into 
his unholy hands ; such an act is to be guilty of the 
Body and Blood of Christ, and we are warned not to 
be "partakers of other men's sins." 

[Whenever practicable, let none but the pure, unfer- 
mented juice of the grape be used in administering the 
Lord's Supper.] 

[Let persons who have scruples concerning the receiving 
of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper kneeling, be permitted 
to receive it either standing or sitting.] 

[No person shall be admitted to the lord's Supper among 
us who is guilty of any practice for which we would exclude 
a member of our Church.] 

fl 446. Order for the Administration of the Lord's Supper. 

The Elder shall say one or more of these Sentences, 
during the reading of which the Persons appointed 
for that purpose shall receive the Alms for the Poor : 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may 
see your good works, and glorify your Father which 
is in heaven. (Matt, v, 16.] 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, 
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves 
16 



242 History of the Ritual 

break through and steal : but lay up for yourselves 
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through 
nor steal. (Matt, vi, 19, 20.) 

Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
do ye even so to them : for this is the law and the 
prophets. (Matt, vii, 12.) 

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, 
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that 
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 
(Matt, vii, 21.) 

Zaccheus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, 
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if 
I have taken anything from any man by false accu- 
sation, I restore him fourfold. (Luke xix, 8.) 

He which soweth sparingly shall reap also spar- 
ingly ; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap 
also bountifully. Every man according as he pur- 
poseth in his heart, so let him give ; not grudgingly, 
or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. 
(2 Cor. ix, 6, 7.) 

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good 
unto all men, especially unto them who are of the 
household of faith. (Gal. vi, 10.) 

Godliness with contentment is great gain ; for we 
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we 
can carry nothing out. (1 Tim. vi, 6, 7.) 

Charge them that are rich in this world, that they 
be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, 
but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things 
to enjoy ; that they do good, that they be rich in 
good works, ready to distribute, willing to communi- 
cate ; laying up in store for themselves a good founda- 



The Lord's Supper 243 

tion against the time to come, that they may lay 
hold on eternal life, (i Tim. vi, 17-19.) 

God is not unrighteous to forget your work and 
labor of love, which ye have showed toward his 
name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and 
do minister. (Heb. vi, 10.) 

To do good and to communicate, forget not, for 
with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Heb. 
xiii, 16.) 

Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his 
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of 
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God 
in him? (1 John iii, 17.) 

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the 
Lord ; and that which he hath given will he pay him 
again. (Prov. xix, 17.) 

Blessed is he that considereth the poor : the Lord 
will deliver him in time of trouble. (Psalm xli, 1.) 

Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, 
to thy poor. (Deut. xv, n.) 

Order for the administration. There is no 
rubric, it will be noticed, concerning the cov- 
ering of the table. In our Disciplines from 
the beginning there was a direction that the 
table should have "a fair linen cloth upon it." 
The only remnant of that rubric left is in the 
note concerning the covering of the uncon- 
sumed elements, and from that we infer the 
table is still to be covered with "a fair linen 
cloth." What edifying influence this Divine 



244 History of the Ritual 

service, beautiful in its simplicity, pathos, and 
holy joy, shall have upon those who partici- 
pate, will depend much upon the manner in 
which it is conducted, as the gospel itself does 
on the way it is preached. Elevated spiritual 
character, fineness of fiber, and the grace of 
Christian culture, all enter into a worthy and 
dignified presentation of this most sacred rite 
to the people. The minister should stand be- 
hind, or at a side of the table facing the peo- 
ple, the elements contained in plain but 
comely vessels on the table, decently covered. 

After which the Elder shall give the following Invi- 
tation, the People standing: 

If any man sin, we have an advocate titurgfea 
with the Father, Jesus Christ the right- l$2c£$y- 
eous: and he is the propitiation for our sostom. 
Cor. v, V sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of 

2 Cor. VH, IO, IT. 

i Cor. xiii, 4-7. the whole world. 

Rom "vi^Ve! ' Wherefore ye that do truly and earnestly repent 

2 Cor. v, 14, 15, f y OUr s - mSf anc j are j n i ove an( j charity with your 

HeD k x' 2 4 2 9 ' neighbors, and intend to lead a new life, following 
1 Cor. x, 16. tk e commandments of God, and walking from hence- 
forth in his holy ways, draw near with faith, and 
take this Holy Sacrament to your comfort ; and, de- 
voutly kneeling, make your humble confession to 
Almighty God. 

If any man sin. The invitation properly 
opens with an offering of the sacrificial Lamb 



1 John ii, 



The Lord's Prayer 245 

of God, the atoning Jesus, to all who are in 
sin, as their Redeemer, and holding out to 
them the hope of pardon through him, their 
Advocate at the throne of mercy. Truly and 
earnestly repent. This is the first requisite to 
a worthy participation of this sacrament. 
Superficial self-examination, vague and insin- 
cere resolves to do better, are not true repent- 
ance. Under the old law the transgressor 
confessed his sins, and then, by a symbolical 
act of profound import, put them away forever. 
(Lev. v, 5; Num. v,6, 7; Lev. iv, 15, 24, 29.) 
No less is required of those who seek pardon 
through the death of Him who bore our in- 
iquities. If we repent, our sense of unworthi- 
ness should not deter us from the table of the 
Lord. Not what we are, but what we are not 
and yet desire to be, constitute our fitness. 
In love and charity. The second requisite is love. 
This sacrament is fellowship with Christ in 
peculiar nearness. It is also fellowship with 
one another in Christ ; therefore all malice and 
envy and discord being utterly destructive of 
that union, wholly disqualifies the unhappy 
soul from participation in this communion. 
Draw near with faith. Third requisite. Faith 
in Christ as the Divine Savior of men. Faith 
to discern through earthly elements the 



246 History of the Ritual 

Lord's body. Faith to receive him as a per- 
sonal Savior, humbly trusting in the infinite 
love and compassion of him who "will not 
break the bruised reed nor quench the smok- 
ing flax." Take this holy sacrament. A visible 
sign of spiritual grace, ordained by Christ as 
a means by which we receive him, and a 
pledge to us of the same. To your comfort. 
Conscious of a sincere desire to receive Christ 
in a clean heart, there will be holy joy in the 
possession of him and spiritual strength in the 
grace imparted. 

Then shall this general Co?ifession be made by the Min- 
ister in the name of all those who are minded to re- 
ceive the Holy Com?nunion> both he and all the Peo- 
ple devoutly kneeling, and saying: 

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Maker of all things, Judge of all men, we acknowl- 
edge and bewail our manifold sins and source, 
Luke Jv;i 3 8 6 ' 37, wickedness, which we from time to time ^f 
Rom.'Ks. most grievously have committed, by %gjgg- 
j0 xiu, n 5, 2 6: 2i; thought, word, and deed, against thy Di- a*. 
eSc'xvi 62 " : v * ne Majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and 
xxxvi, 31, 32. ' indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and 

Ps xxxvni 4 * 

li, i.„. are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the re- 

t jSm"ii, 2 i% 25 i2 membrance of them is grievous unto us. Have 
fThes^.'fvfi! 3 ' mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful 
JtSLi;^. 15, Father; for thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, 



The Lord's Supper 247 

forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may 
ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of 
life, to the honor and glory of thy name, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

By the minister in the name of all. Previous 
to A. D. 1 66 1, this confession was to be made 
by "one of those desiring to commune, or by 
one of the ministers." The Puritans objected, 
and insisted that it should be said by the min- 
ister only. The change was made by Bishop 
Cosin. In 1864 the present form was inserted 
in our Ritual. Almighty God. In the Didache, 
chapter vii, mention is made of confession of 
sins before communing, and no Liturgy of 
any age omits it, so deep is the instinct that 
we must be cleansed from an evil conscience 
before we venture to touch too closely the 
things of God. Therefore that we might re- 
ceive the benefits available to us from the pro- 
pitiatory death of the Son of God, which this 
sacrament commemorates, it is necessary that 
we confess our sins as St. John declares, and 
put ourselves in utter abandonment to the 
tender mercies of Him who invites us to re- 
pentance. Amen. All the people should 
make this response to the general confession 
in audible voice. 



248 History of the Ritual 

Then shall the Elder say, 
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of 

Matt, vi, 14. th y S reat merc y hast P r o mis ed forgive- 8ugge9tcd by 
is. lv, 7 . ness of sins to all them that with hearty liturgy of 

John 111, 16. - „ . ., , 3° bn a 

Acts x, 43. repentance and true faith turn unto thee, faaco, e«g- 

Gal. i, 4. , 111 land ' R^*sn 

1 Cor. i, 7, 8. nave mercy upon us ; pardon and de- of edward 
liver us from all our sins ; confirm and ixrrman'a 
strengthen us in all goodness ; and bring onsu ** 
us to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 



In the English book this is known as the 
absolution given in God's name. Our Ritual, 
discarding all priestly absolution, has changed 
it into a prayer, and this, too, in harmony 
with revisers of the Ritual in 1661, who desig- 
nated it as such in emendation of the rubric. 
Then shall the elder say. Kneeling. As the 
minister of Christ sent to proclaim forgiveness 
of sins to all who repent and believe, he now, 
in behalf of the penitent, turns earnestly to 
God, imploring his pardoning grace. 

The Collect. 



Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all 
desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, 
Ps. xTv,'4 2 i. cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the Salisbury 
johni"S f 3 i 7 7. inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we «<*. 
Luke i, 46, 47. ma y perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy 
holy name, through Jesus Christ our L,ord. Amen. 



The Lord's Supper 249 

The Collect. A brief prayer in a collection 
of people, or a number of such petitions col- 
lected into one. Collects are as ancient as 
Liturgies, and Liturgies carry us back to 
primitive Christianity. This is known as the 
Collect for Purity. The Latin in the Sarum 
Use, which is word for word with the English, 
is very fine: "Deus cui cor patet et omnis 
voluntas loquitur, et quern nullum latet secre- 
tum: purifica per infusionem sancti Spiritus 
cogitationes cordis nostri: ut perfecte te 
diligere et digne laudare mereamur. Per 
Christum." To whom all hearts are open. 
What unfeigned sincerity of desire is breathed 
out here! The humble soul that has prayed 
for pardon, now pleads for purity, being con- 
scious of its need of cleansing before it would 
approach the table of its Lord. The thoughts 
of our hearts. The purposes, desires, volitions, 
and hidden springs of action in the hidden 
man. By the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit. 
Who searcheth the heart. Thus is the Holy 
Ghost invoked, that, by his expulsive presence 
and power, all sinful desires may be banished 
from the heart, that we may perfectly love thee 
with undivided affection, the highest, holiest, 
best, and most glorious God. And zvorthily 
magnify thy name by holy living, thus setting 



250 History of the Ritual 

forth the power, goodness, and mercy of the 
Lord, which are the attributes of his nature. 

Then shall the Elder say: 
We do not presume to come to this thy table, O 
merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, 
but in thy manifold and great mercies. Salisbury 
Luke xviii, i 3 . We are not worthy so much as to gather ^o^ases. 
Heb V 'iv, 14-16. up the crumbs under thy table. But ©»*«•* 
LukevUe, 2 /. thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to 
John vi, 34. nave mercy. Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to 
eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink 
his blood, that we may live and grow thereby ; and 
that, being washed through his most precious blood, 
we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. 

Then shall the Elder say. Still kneeling, of 
course. We do not presume. This is the 
prayer of Humble Access. Such is the thought, 
tone, and atmosphere of this remarkable sup- 
plication that no half Christian, half infidel, 
rationalistic, or latitudinarian spirit which, 
while rightly eliminating all Roman and semi- 
Roman doctrines of the sacrament, would go 
farther and rob this holy institution of its ex- 
alted character, can ever eradicate from the 
consciousness of the Church the conviction, 
cherished from the beginning, that this Eu- 
charistic service, in which by faith the King 
of Glory comes in unique relation to those 
who worthily eat and drink of the ordained 



The Lord's Supper 251 

elements, is peculiarly, transcendently sacred 
beyond any other service of the sanctuary. 
Grant us, therefore, . . . so to eat. The 
emphatic "so to eat" will not be overlooked. 
The meaning is that God would grant us the 
grace of faith to "discern the Lord's body," 
and to appropriate him — that is, his life, char- 
acter, holiness, and all that makes him as 
Lord and Savior, the holiest ideal of the sanc- 
tified heart — into our poor life and character 
and spirit, so that he will truly and really be 
our spiritual food, strength, and life. Flesh 
. . . blood. Bread is bread, wine is wine; 
but to the eye of faith, which looks through 
the material and the earthly to the spiritual 
and the heavenly, these elements, by Christ's 
own words, are received figuratively as the 
body and blood of Christ. The real presence 
is not in the elements, but in the soul of him 
who worthily partakes of the elements. 

Then the Elder shall offer the Prayer of Consecration^ . 
as follow eth : 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who of thy 

tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ p s . cxix, i S 6. 

Booh of to suffer death upon the cross for our re- AcS'iil,' 18. 
Common 



pmyeT demption; who made there, by his obla- gd!"ij[, 7 i3 

Reformers, tion oi himself once offered, a full, per- Jf^ii, I0 27 

H.D. 1549', feet, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and . z8 ; x > *>-* 

Acts iv, 12. 

satisfaction for the sins of the whole world ; and did i John a, i, 



252 History of the Ritual 



institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to con- 
Luke xxii, 19, 20 . . . 

1 Cor. xi, 23-26, tmue, a perpetual memory of his precious death un- 
til his coming again : hear us, O merciful Father, we 
most humbly beseech thee, and grant B Uce r 
that we, receiving these thy creatures of J 55*. 
bread and wine, according to thy Son our Savior 
Jesus Christ's holy institution, in remembrance of 
his death and passion, may be partakers of his most 
blessed body and blood ; who, in the same night that 
he was betrayed, took bread ; (*) and when W ^ ere the 

J ' Elder may 

he had given thanks, he broke it, and take the plate 
gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, his hand. 
Matt, xxvi, 26. eat; this is my body which is given for you; do this 

Matt, xiv, 22. . .. r 

Luke xxii, 19, 20 m remembrance of me. 

Likewise after supper he took( 2 ) the (2) Here he 
cup; and when he had given thanks, he J!JJJ ?jf'/Jj 
gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of hand - 
this; for this is my blood of the New Testament, 
which is shed for you, and for many, for the remis- 
sion of sins; do this, as oft as ye shall drink it, in 
remembrance of me. Amen. 

The prayer of consecration. This is so called 
because the elements which Christ himself 
ordained to be used, by his selection of them, 
are now in Christ's own words of institution 
set apart by the prayers of the Church follow- 
ing the commandment of Christ as the visible 
emblems of his most precious body and blood. 
This our Lord did (Matt, xxvi, 26), and St. 
Paul (1 Cor. x, 16) says: "The cup of blessing 
which we bless (o dXoyovfxev) and this prayer 



The Lord's Supper 253 

is, therefore, the central and essential part of 
the service. Hear us, merciful Father! In 
the first book of King Edward VI, as we have 
already shown in the historical division of this 
work, these words introduced the prayer for 
the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the ele- 
ments; but at the instance of the learned Re- 
former, Bucer, the words following, which he 
suggested, up to the words, "who in the same 
night," were substituted for the invocation of 
the Holy Ghost. May be partakers of his most 
precious body and blood. In a heavenly manner, 
though not less real on that account; other- 
wise we do not partake at all. Who in the 
same night. The suffering, agony, and death 
of the Lord are here kept before the mind. 
No one in tender love and sympathy with the 
atoning Jesus, and possessed with a reverent 
sense of the solemn significance of what he is 
saying and doing, need be reminded that de- 
liberation, blended gentleness and gravity 
should characterize the reading of this part 
of the prayer. A rapid, noisy, undignified 
shouting or mumbling of this tender and pa- 
thetic rehearsal of that melancholy scene in 
the upper chamber when Jesus, shadowing 
forth his approaching death, instituted this 
simple but beautiful and luminous memorial, 



254 History of the Ritual 

is repugnant to Christian feeling and a sin 
against all propriety. Took bread. Unleav- 
ened bread, there being no other kind at the 
Passover. We are not confined, however, for 
that reason to unleavened bread, for then we 
would also be confined by parity of reasoning 
to the specific kind and quality of wine which 
He used. The Christians of the apostolic days 
used the bread they brought to the Agapse. 
This is my body. Our Lord's physical body 
was present before the eyes of his disciples 
when he uttered these words, and we may as 
clearly understand as they did what he meant. 
Similar words were used by the Jews at the 
eating of the Passover. 

Then shall the Minister receive the Communion in 
both kinds, and proceed to deliver the same to the 
other Ministers, if any be present ; after which he 
shall say : 

It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that 
we should at all times and in all places give thanks 
unto thee, O Lord, holy Father, Almighty, Salisbury* 
Everlasting God. §g££ 

Heb XX xiH, 2 ; 5 . Therefore with angels and archangels, wtwgfca. 

Eph x vf lo. 1 ' an( * with all the company of heaven, we laud and 
Rev. xix, s, 6. magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee, 
and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, 
heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to 
thee, O Lord most high! Amen. 



The Lord's Supper 255 

Then shall the minister receive. That he and 
other ministers assisting may be free to min- 
ister to the people, and thus pass on to the 
remaining service and conclusion without in- 
terruption. It is very meet. The thanksgiving 
in the so-called St. James's Liturgy, used in 
the Church of Jerusalem, ran thus, "It is truly 
meet, right, becoming, and our bounden 
duty." Therefore. This is the triumphal hymn 
of praise into which our thanksgiving natu- 
rally runs, part of it caught from the skies, the 
Trisagion song of the angels encircling the 
throne of God. (Isa. vi, 1 ; Rev. iv, 8.) It is 
not so indicated; but the Preface, "It is very 
meet, right," etc., should be said by the min- 
ister, and then, because the death of Christ 
has reconciled heaven and earth, because the 
Church militant is one with the Church tri- 
umphant, because we are one with the saints 
of all ages, all the people should join, with 
one voice, in this glorious outburst of thanks- 
giving and praise. This has always been the 
custom from the remotest times, and there 
is no good reason why it should not be con- 
tinued till "we hail him in triumph descending 
the skies." Our Liturgy affords ample oppor- 
tunity for the participation of the people in 
this holy service. 



256 History of the Ritual 

The Minister shall then proceed to administer the Com- 
munion to the People in order, kneeling \ into their 
uncovered hands; and when he delivereth the Breads 
he shall say : 

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was 
given for thee, preserve thy soul and body unto ever- 
£kxfv? 2 f lasting life. Take and eat this in re- HU 
Luke xxii, i 9 . membrance that Christ died for thee; and Mturgfca. 

1 Cor. xi, 24. 

feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving. 
And the Minister that delivereth the Cup shall say: 

Matt, xxvi, 28. The blo °cl of our L,ord Jesus Christ, which was 

Luke xxii ?' sne ^ for thee, preserve thy soul and body unto ever- 

i Cor. xi, 24. lasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ's 

blood was shed for thee, and be thankful. 

[If the Consecrated bread or wine will be all spent before 
all have communed, the Elder may Consecrate more by re- 
peating the Prayer of Consecration.] 

[When all have communed, the Minister shall return to 
the Lord's table and place upon it what remaineth of the Con- 
secrated elements, covering the same with a fair linen cloth.] 

Thee . . . thy. These pronouns, being 
in italics, indicate not emphasis, but that the 
plural form may be used to all kneeling at the 
same time at the railing; therefore the min- 
ister, not having an assistant, may take the 
bread in one hand and the cup in the other, 
and, presenting them to the people, repeat the 
words, "The body of our Lord," "The blood 
of our Lord," and then deliver the elements in 
succession to each communicant without fur- 
ther speaking. 



The Lord's Supper 257 

Then shall the Elder say the Lord's Prayer; the Peo- 
ple kneeling, and repeating after him every petition: 
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
them that trespass against us : and lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine is the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. 
Amen. 

After which shall be said asfolloweth : 
O Lord our Heavenly Father, we thy humble serv- 
ants desire thy Fatherly goodness mercifully to accept 
this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; most 
humbly beseeching thee to grant, that, by the merits p s . i, ?4 , 23 ; 
and death of thy Son Jesus Christ, and through faith t fKS£ 7 j. 
in his blood, we and thy whole Church may obtain § eb / Jpjg 15 ' 
forgiveness of our sins, and all other benefits of his *? eb - \ x > 22 - 

. Eph. 1. 7 ; v, 

passion. And here we offer and present unto thee, 25-27.. 
O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a rea- Rom."v!u^a. 
sonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto thee ; humbly Rom! xii"i'. 2 ' 
Salisbury beseeching thee that all we who are par- p? a °AxV,' 4°' 
«**• takers of this Holy Communion may be Eph.V-j. 16 " 
filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction. And i^ ke - xv * l8, I9 ' 
although we be unworthy, through our manifold |Cor.Viii, r 3 . 
sins, to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech cvii > 22. ' 
thee to accept this our bounden duty and service ; 2 Chron. xxx, 
not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offenses, Rom. 1 ?", 8, 9 . 
through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with Rom.xvlV 
whom, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, all honor and 
glory be unto thee, O Father Almighty, world with- 
out end. Amen. 
17 



258 History of the Ritual 

Shall be said. By whom? The custom has 
been for the minister to offer this prayer of 
thanksgiving; but there is nothing to prevent 
all the people from repeating it with him, it 
being also a prayer of personal consecration. 

Then shall be said or sung: 

Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace, 

good will toward men ! We praise thee, we bless thee, 

we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give 0reeh 

thanks to thee for thy great glory, O ^iturgfea. 

Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty! 

Luke ii, i 4 . O Lord, the only begotten Son Jesus Christ: O 

1 chron^ xxix, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that 

Ps! 3 ixxxxvi, 9 . takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon 

>hn xni' 7 i 3 . us - Thou that takest away the sins of the world, 

Rev. y, 12-14. have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the 

1 Tim.' vi, 15. sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sit- 
Eph.'ii, '18.' test at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy 

xv ' 34 " upon us. For thou only art holy ; thou only art the 
Lord; thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art 
most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen. 

then the Elder, if he see it expedient, may put up an 
extemporary Prayer; and afterward shall let the 
People depart with this Blessing : 

The peace of God, which passeth all understand- 
Deut. xxi, s. lng> keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge 

PML i V v%%. and love ° f G ° d > and ° f tiS S ° n J eSUS Salisbury 

2 Thess! iii, 5. Christ our Lord : and the blessing of God Cl9e * 

Numb, vi, 23-26. ° 

Ps. cxxxiv, 3. Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
2 Cor.'xiii, 14. be among you, and remain with you always. Amen. 



The Lord's Supper 259 

Then shall be said or sung. If said, then it 
should be said by all ; for if sung, it would be, 
or should be, sung by all. But it is more in 
harmony with the first communion service to 
sing the "Gloria in Excelsis," than to say it, 
for we read in Matthew that "when they had 
sung a hymn they went out," thus concluding 
the events of that hour. No Liturgy in the 
world comes to a more solemn or majestic 
conclusion. All the grandeur and magnifi- 
cence of language is put into it; the sacred 
fire of ecstatic love, adoration, thanksgiving, 
and praise glows in every ascription of honor 
and glory, and it is most fitting that all who 
have partaken of this holy institution should 
sing their gratitude in this peerless hymn of 
the Universal Church. 

The benediction given should be invariably 
used. It is better than any extemporized 
form. 



N. B. — If the Elder be straitened for time in the usual 
administration of the Holy Communion, he may omit any 
part of the service except the Invitation, the Confession, and 
the Prayer of Consecration ; and in its administration to the 
sick he may omit any part of the service except the Con- 
fession, the Prayer of Consecration, and the usual sentences 
in delivering the Bread and Wine, closing with the Lord's 
Prayer, extempore supplication, and the Benediction. 



Chapter XIII 

MATRIMONY 

Introductory Note 

The foundation-stone of Church and State is the 
Family. The highest relation which Divine Revela- 
tion makes known between God and man, between 
God and his Church, is set forth under the image of 
marriage. (Eph. v, 23.) The Family is the oldest 
and the most important of human institutions. It is 
ordained of God. Christ honored it by becoming a 
member of a family; he honored marriage by his 
presence at the marriage-feast at Cana ; his apostles 
made the family the nursery of the Church; and 
from the beginning Christianity has sanctified the 
marriage of believers. So early as the close of the 
first century, Ignatius in his Epistle to Polycarp 
exhorts that notice of intended marriage be made to 
the bishop: "But it becomes both men and women 
who marry, to form their union with the approval 
of the bishop, that their marriage may be according 
to God and not after their own lust. Let all things 
be done to the honor of God." And even Tertullian, 
in the midst of all his misgivings concerning mar- 
riage, saj'S : " Whence are we to find words enough 
fully to tell the happiness of that marriage which 
the Church cements [quod ecclesia conciliat\ and the 
oblation confirms, and the benediction signs and 
seals, which the angels carry back the news of, 
which the Father holds for ratified? For even on 
earth, children do not rightly and lawfully wed with- 
260 



Matrimony 261 



out their father's consent." (Ep. Ad. Uxor.) Thus 
has Christianity sanctified every honorable relation 
of our earthly life. 

The solemnization, then, of marriage is a relig- 
ious service, and levity or lightness of manner of 
any description upon the part of the minister should 
receive severe rebuke. But worthy of all censure 
and condemnation is he who degrades his holy office 
and the solemn rite of matrimony — so important to 
the Church, to the kingdom of God, and to the 
morals and dignity of the State — who performs the 
ceremony in places and amid circumstances repug- 
nant to the moral sense. Such ministry is con- 
demned by the moral instinct of all men, and should 
not be tolerated in the Church of God. In this, as 
in all other offices, the minister should present a 
grave and dignified demeanor, as is fitting the sa- 
credness of the service in which he is engaged ; not, 
however, with any show of austerity or of self-satis- 
fied importance ; for dignity is compatible with hu- 
mility, and gravity is most weighty when mixed 
with kindliness of tone and geniality of spirit. 

^447. Form for the Solemnization of Matrimony. 

[The parts in brackets throughout may be used or not at 
discretion.] 

At the day and time appointed for the Solemnization of 
Matrimony, the persons to be married — having been 
qualified according to law — standing together, the 
man on the right hand and the woman o?i the left, 
the Minister shall say: 
Dearly Beloved, W e are gathered together here 

in the sight of God, and in the presence of these 



262 History of the Ritual 

witnesses, to join together this man and this woman 
in holy Matrimony ; which is an honorable estate, in- 
Ps. Lxxix, 5, 7 . stituted of God in the time of man's inno- Salisbury 
Heb h xm,V°' cency, signifying unto us the mystical ***** 
Gen. ii, 18, 21-24. un j on that exists between Christ and his Church: 

kph. v, 22-33. » 

Matt, xix, 4 , 5. which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified 

John 11, 1-3, •* 

7-11. with his presence, and first miracle that he wrought, 

1 Cor. vi£ I', in Cana of Galilee, and is commended of Saint Paul 
Prol^xix.V" 4 ' to be honorable among all men; and therefore is 
not by any to be entered into unadvisedly, but rev- 
erently, discreetly, and in the fear of God. 

Into which holy estate these two persons present 
come now to be joined. Therefore if any Salisbury 
can show just cause why they may not ^orhOses. 
lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or 
else hereafter forever hold his peace. 

Qualified according to law. Of the State in 
which the marriage is solemnized, and of this 
the minister must be assured by license. Right 
hand . . . left hand. This was added in 
1 66 1. Dearly beloved. From the earliest 
period of the Christian Church marriage has 
been solemnized by religious rites. For 
though no form for the solemnization is to be 
found in ancient Liturgies, yet it is evident 
from the writings of those primitive times that 
for the first three hundred years Christian 
marriages were performed by Christian min- 
isters. We are gathered together here. The 
Church is no party to secret deeds, and this is 



Matrimony 263 



a statement openly made at the beginning of 
what is contemplated, so that all might know 
the import of the service. Just cause . . . 
lawfully. The appeal is to all present, if there 
is any legal reason why the ceremony should 
not proceed. If a reason is alleged, it must 
be one which in the courts would nullify the 
marriage. A frivolous reason is an injustice 
to the parties desiring to be married, and 
should not be recognized by the minister. 
Hold his peace. In public and in private. 

[And also speaking unto the persons that are to be 
married^ the Minister shall say. 

I require and charge you both, that if either of 
you know any impediment why you may not be 
lawfully joined together in Matrimony, 
you do now confess it : for be ye well as- 
sured, that so many as are coupled together other- 
wise than God's Word doth allow, are not joined to- 
gether by God, neither is their Matrimony lawful.] 

If no impediment be alleged, then shall the Minister 
say tmto the man: 

M., wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded „ 

,-„, , - ., ,. . , Matt, xix, 4-6. 

wife, to live together after God s ordinance in tne E P h. v, 28, 29. 
holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou Ecci/ix*'/.' 
love her, comfort her, honor and keep x cor"v?f 3-5, 

her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all IO * 

other, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both 

shall live? 



264 History of the Ritual 

Know any impediment. This final appeal to 
the consciences of both the man and the 
woman is evidence of the great care the 
Church exercises in preventing improper mar- 
riages. Among the impediments are degrees 
of consanguinity forbidden by the law of God, 
the lack of parental consent in the case of 
minors, the having a divorced wife or husband 
living, according to the law of the Church in 
paragraph 39 of the Discipline, and such natu- 
ral disabilities as prevent conjugal duties. 
'Lawful. In ecclesiastical, civil, and all other 
law, fraud vitiates all contracts. 

The man shall answer \ 
I will. 

Then shall the Minister say unto the Woman, 

N. % wilt thou have this man to be thy wedded 
en.jxiv, 5 , husband, fo n YQ together after God's ordinance in 
Prov. xxxi, 11, ^ k^ estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou 
E 33.' V ' 22 ' 24 ' ^ ove ' h° nor > an d keep him, in sickness 
Jcor'vii 5 ' an ^ * n lL ea lth; and forsaking all other, keep thee 
only unto him, so long as ye both shall live? 

The Woman shall answer ', 
I will. 

The above interrogatories concerning mu- 
tual consent are of utmost importance. 



Matrimony 265 



Forced marriages are abhorrent to reason and 
religion and the best interests of society. Op- 
portunity, therefore, is here given before the 
irrevocable pledge is given for the parties to 
withdraw. M. The letter N was anciently 
used as an abbreviation of Nomen, name and 
"name or names" was expressed by double n, 
thus u n. vel n."=nn; and this became cor- 
rupted into M. The man should be called 
by his Christian name and the woman by hers. 

\Then the Minister shall cmise the Man with his right 
hand to take the Woman by her right hand, and to 
say after him as follow eth : 

I, M., take thee, N., to be my wedded wife, to ., . „ 

' ' ' J Matt, xix, 8. 

have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, Mark x, 2, 5-8, 
for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sick- ' 
ness and in health, to love and to 

cherish, till death us do part, according to God's 

holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my 

faith. 

The?i shall they loose their hands, and the Woman % 
with her right hand taking the Man by his right 
hand, shall likewise say after the Minister: 

I, N., take thee, M., to be my wedded husband, to 
have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, Rom * V11 ' 2 ' 3 ' 
for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sick- 
ness and in health, to love and to cher- 
ish, till death us ;do part, according to God's holy 
ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my faith.] 



Phil, iv, 6. 



266 History of the Ritual 

No stronger declarations of fidelity can be 
made. They comprehend all that pure and 
honest love includes, and exclude all that 
would mar its peace or divide its loyalty to 
the one pledged. Thus polygamy and concu- 
binage are forever condemned by the vows 
of Christian marriage. 

Then shall the Minister pray thus: 
O Eternal God, Creator and Preserver of all man- 
Rev. i v ; 11. kind, Giver of all spiritual grace, the Author of ever- 
job vn, 20. 1 

1 Pet. v, 10. lasting life : send thy blessing upon these Salisbury 

2 Sam.' vii", 29. thy servants, this man and this woman, Use * 
Eccf. v? 4? 7 ' whom we bless in thy name ; that as Isaac and Re- 
Deut. xxm, 21, k ecca ii V ed faithfully together, so these persons may 
Luke"!' 5V 9 ' surely perform and keep the vow and covenant be- 
p s . cxix, 165. tween them made, and may ever remain in perfect 

love and peace together, and live according to thy 
laws, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

[J/ the parties desire it } the Man shall here hand a 
Ring to the Minister , who shall return it to him, 
and direct him to place it on the third finger of the 
Woman's left hand. And the Man shall say to the 
Woman, repeating after the Minister : 
With this ring I thee wed, and with Tort* Use. 

' Berrmati's 

my worldly goods I thee endow, m the Consult. 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen."] 

The minister pray this. Standing. The 
prayer is one of blessing upon the persons 



Matrimony 267 



about to be married, and for Divine grace to 
keep the pledges made by both of unceasing 
love and loyalty, with beautiful allusion to the 
ideal love of Isaac and Rebecca, favored of 
heaven. Ring. The use of the wedding-ring 
is of ancient date. We find it among the Jews 
and the Romans. (Juvenal, Sat. VI, 27.) 
Third -finger. Anciently the ring was placed 
upon the thumb in the name of the Father, 
then on the next in the name of the Son, on 
the next in the name of the Holy Ghost, and 
then on the fourth at the word Amen. In the 
name of the Father. In the name of God each 
weds the other. 

Then shall the Minister join their right hands to- 
gether, and say, 

Forasmuch as M. and N. have consented together 
in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before Gen. xxiv, 58, 
fierrman's Go(i and - tilis company, and thereto have R Sh iv> 3> io . 
conauit. pledged their faith either to other, and K.^JJ' l8 ' 
have declared the same by joining of hands ; I pro- Matt - xix » 6 - 
nounce that they are husband and wife together, in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Those whom God hath joined together, 
let no man put asunder. Ameyi. 

Minister join. As the minister of God who 
joins these hearts in holy matrimony, the min- 
ister performs the symbolical act of joining 



268 History of the Ritual 

their right hands. . . . I pronounce. By the 
authority of God. Husband and wife together. 
Excluding all other from each, thus united by 
pledges, prayer, and the name of God. 

And the Minister shall add this blessing : 
2 Cor. xiii, i 4 . God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 

Ps^xxxiv, 4 ?- 6 ' hless, preserve, and keep you; the Lord mercifully 
Eph^lfiufu, with his favor look U P° n y° U > and SO fil1 Salisbury 

PeT 9 iii ^ 0U W ^h all spiritual benediction and Uae - 

Rom. vi,' 22. grace that ye may so live together in this life that in 
the world to come ye may have life everlasting. 
Amen. 

Add this blessing. The act of blessing is 
usually given with uplifted and extended 
hand. This form was substituted in 1552 for 
the almost identical form in the book of 1549. 

Then shall the Minister offer the following Prayer: 

Matt, xxii 31, O God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, 

Gen. xxviii, 3 , 4. bless this man and this woman, and sow the seed of 

^m.lit'xo;^ eternal life in their heartS ' that whatSO- Salisbury 

James i, 22, ever j n thy holy word they shall profit- ***** 

Deut. xxvi, 15. ably learn, they may indeed fulfill the same. Look, 

xxviii, 3, 4.' O Lord, mercifully on them from heaven, and bless 

xxlv'V? ' them : as thou didst send thy blessings upon Abra- 

1 johnIi, 4 i 7 . ham and Sarah to their great comfort, so vouchsafe 

to send thy blessings upon this man and this woman, 

that they, obeying thy will, and always being in 

safety under thy protection, may abide in thy love 

unto their lives' end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 



Matrimony 269 



Almighty God, who at the beginning didst create 
our first parents, Adam and Eve, and didst sanctify 
and join them together in marriage, pour upon these 
persons the riches of thy grace, sanctify and bless 
them, that they may please thee both in body and 
soul, and live together in holy love unto their lives' 
end. Amen. 

Then shall the minister otter. This prayer is 
a union of two in the Salisbury Rite. Deus 
Abraham, etc., and Omnipotens misericors 
Deus, etc. 

Here the Minister may ?cse exte?nporary Prayer. 
The?i the Minister shall repeat the Lord's Prayer: 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread : and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
them that trespass against us : and lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine is the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever- 
Ameji. 

The minister may use extemporary prayer. 
But unless there is special reason for doing so, 
he will do wisely should he refrain and close 
the service, he alone repeating the Lord's 
Prayer. 



Chapter XIY 

BURIAL OF THE DEAD 

[We will on no account whatever make a charge for 
burying the dead.] 

fl 448. Form for the Burial of the Dead. 

The Minister \ going before the corpse , shall say, 

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that be- 
lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet Salisbury 
shall he live : and whosoever liveth and asc » 
believeth in me shall never die. (John xi, 25, 26.) 

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he 
shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and 
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet 
in my flesh shall I see God : whom I shall see for 
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. 
(Job xix, 25-27.) 

We brought nothing into this world, and it is 
certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, 
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the 
name of the Lord. (1 Tim. vi, 7; Job i, 21.) 

The minister going before, leading the pro- 
cession up the aisle of the church, shall say the 
words following- until the "chancel" rails are 
reached, where the minister leaves the pro- 
cession and enters the pulpit. If services are 

held in the house, these verses will be omitted. 
270 



Burial of the Dead 271 

Nor are they used at the burial ground. They 
begin the whole service, presumably, at the 
church, where we are baptized, where we are 
married, where we worship, and from whence 
our bodies are taken to the grave. The re- 
mains of those who have died from very con- 
tagious diseases should never be taken to the 
church, and on all occasions the building 
should be well ventilated. 

In the House or Church may be read one or both of the 
following Psalms, or some other suitable portion of 
the Holy Scriptures. 

Psalm xxxix: 

I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not 
with my tongue : I will keep my mouth with a bridle, 
while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with 
silence, I held my peace, even from good ; and my 
sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me; 
while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I 
with my tongue, Lord, make me to know mine end, 
and the measure of my days, what it is ; that I may 
know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my 
days as a handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing 
before thee: verily every man at his best state is 
altogether vanity. Surely every man walketh in a 
vain show : surely they are disquieted in vain : he 
heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather 
them. And now, Lord, what wait I for ? my hope is 
in thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions: 
make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was 



272 History of the Ritual 

dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst 
it. Remove thy stroke away from me; I am con- 
sumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with 
rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest 
his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely 
every man is vanity. Hear my prayer, Lord, and 
give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my 
tears : for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, 
as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may re- 
cover strength, before I go hence, and be no more. 

Then may follow the reading of the Epistle, as follows: 

I Corinthians xv, 41-58 : 

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory 
of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; for one 
star difiereth from another star in glory. So also is 
the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in cor- 
ruption, it is raised in incorruption : it is sown in 
dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weak- 
ness, it is raised in power : it is sown a natural body, 
it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural 
body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is 
written, The first man Adam was made a living 
soul ; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but 
that which is natural ; and afterward that which is 
spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy : the 
second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the 
earthy, such are they also that are earthy : and as 
is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we 
shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now 



Burial of the Dead 273 

this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can not In- 
herit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption 
inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; 
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, f 

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the 
dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
changed. For this corruptible must put on incor- 
ruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 
So when this corruptible shall have put on incor- 
ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immor- 
tality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that 
is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O 
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy 
victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength 
of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which 
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, un- 
movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain 
in the Lord. 

At the grave, when the Corpse is laid in the Earth, 
the Minister shall say % 

Man that is born of a woman hath but a short T . . 

lob xiv, 1, 2. 

Salisbury time to live, and is full of misery. He i*s. ciii, is, 16. 
In the Dtrge. cometh up, and is cut down like a flower: 15. 
he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth 
in one stay. 

In the midst of life we are in death : of whom Prov xxvii u 
may we seek for succor, but of thee, O Lord, who 3*^ 7xx 4 \- 
for our sins art justly displeased ? 
18 



274 History of the Ritual 



Exod. xv, n. 
Ps. lxxxix, 6-8. 
Isa. xxxiii, 14. 



Ps. xxxviii, 9. 
1 Pet. iii, 12. 
Joel ii, 17. 
Ps. cxvi, 3, 4; 

xxiii, 4. 
Acts vii, 59, 60. 



Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, 
O holy and most merciful Savior, deliver us not into 
the bitter pains of eternal death. 

Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; 
shut not thy merciful ears to our prayers, but spare 
us, Lord most holy; O God most mighty, O holy 
and merciful Savior, thou most worthy Judge eter- 
nal, suffer us not at our last hour for any pains of 
death to fall from thee. 

At the grave, when the corpse is laid in the 
earth. That is, when the coffin is lowered into 
the grave and is ready to be covered. In the 
midst of life we are in death. This noble prose 
poem was originally an anthem, and is often so 
used now. Its authorship is attributed to Not- 
ker, a religious poet, of St. Gall, in Switzerland, 
in the latter part of the ninth century. It was 
used during the Middle Ages on all occasions 
of gloom, and even armies adopted it as their 
battle-song. Luther composed a fine hymn 
on the same line of thought, the last part of 
which suggested the latter part of this anthem. 
Luther's hymn closed "O holy Lord God, O 
holy mighty God, O holy merciful Savior, 
thou God eternal, suffer us not to fall from 
the consolation of true faith." Mr. Blunt in 
his notes remarks that, "When sung to such 
strains as befit its beautiful words, this anthem 
has a solemn magnificence, and at the same 



Burial of the Dead 275 

time a wailing prayerfulness which makes it 
unsurpassable by any analogous portion of 
any Ritual whatever." 

Then, while the Earth shall be cast upon the Body by 
some one standing by, the Minister shall say, 

Forasmuch, as it hath pleased Almighty God, in t Sam {i 6 
his wise providence, to take out of the world the Ecci. viu, 12; 

Xll, 7. 

Salisbury soul of the departed, we therefore com- Gen.iii, i 9 ; 

iSrvnfan's m ^ his body to the ground, earth to Acts x'xiv,' 15. 

Consult, earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; look- phi" m, li, Z1 . 
ing for the general resurrection in the last day, and I jc.hnni 3 , 9 2. 4 °' 
the life of the world to come, through our I^ord 
Jesus Christ; at whose second coming in glorious 
majesty to judge the world, the earth and the sea 
shall give up their dead ; and the corruptible bodies 
of those who sleep in him shall be changed and 
made like unto his own glorious body; according to 
the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue 
all things unto himself. 

Then while the earth shall be cast upon the 
body. This does not mean that while the min- 
ister is speaking some one shall be casting 
earth into the grave. Such mode would be 
unseemly, producing confusion. But it sig- 
nifies that while the minister repeats the 
words, "earth to earth, aslies to ashes, dust to 
dust," some one standing by shall throw in a 
handful of earth. The act is symbolic, and is 



'276 History of the Ritual 

done at the mention of "earth," "ashes," and 
"dust." 

Then shall be said : 

I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, 
Write, From henceforth blessed are the dead who die 
in the Lord: Even so, saith the Spirit; for they rest 
from their labors. 

Then shall the Minister say : 

Lord, have mercy upon us. 
Christ, have mercy upon us. 
Lord, have mercy upon us. 

Then shall be said. By the assistant, or the 
minister if no assistant is present. The 
Church passes no judgment on those whom 
she thus buries. But every thinking Christian 
will see that such prayers as the preceding 
one, and such comforting promises as are here 
repeated, can not be used at the funerals of 
people of known wicked lives. None but a 
Christian is entitled to this service, and while 
in all charity the service may be said even over 
those who may not have lived as shining 
lights, yet it would be nothing less than mock- 
ery to use it over everybody. Then shall the 
minister say. The lines in italics should be 
said by the congregation in audible voice, re- 
sponding to the minister. 



Burial of the Dead 277 

Then the Minister may offer this Prayer : 

Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of Exod. in, 6. 
those who depart hence in the Lord, and with whom xxih*43 3 ; 8 xvi, 
Salisbury tne souls of the faithful, after they are 9 ^ r . v, 4 . 
ase - delivered from the burden of the flesh, Ps - ? vii > *s; 

' XVI, II. 

are in joy and felicity : we give thee hearty thanks | ob ». ?*• 
for the good examples of all those thy servants, who, Rev. vi,V«- 
having finished their course in faith, do vi,'io. 
booh, now rest from their labors. And we be- R^'xxh.Vo. 

1549 H. D. geecli thee ^ that ^^ ^.^ ^ those who Heb. xi, i' 3 , 39, 

are departed in the true faith of thy holy name, may ^l m ^\\ . 
have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in «*» 15. 
body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory, 
through Jesus Christ our I^ord. Amen. 

The minister may. If the life of the de- 
parted would to any degree justify it, the 
prayer should always be said. It is most com- 
forting after such melancholy services, the 
bright rift in a dark cloud. With whom do live 
the spirits. Even at the mouth of the remorse- 
less grave the Church of God proclaims the 
doctrine of immortality. Are in joy and felic- 
ity. All false teachings concerning purgatory, 
soul sleeping, or such ideas as transmigration 
or reincarnation, are utterly rejected as un- 
becoming the noble sanity of the revelation 
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We with all 
those. Parted here, but reunited in the eternal 
and everlasting glory. The Church ever 



278 History of the Ritual 

points to the coming day. Undying faith in 
a blessed future is her word of holy comfort 
to her bereaved children, who mourn in the 
present, and this is the inspiration for those 
who are bowed down. Everlasting glory. 
Triumphant contrast to the present life of un- 
certainty and sorrow. 

The Collect. 

O Merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Toh e n'xV,i5?26. Christ, who is the resurrection and the life; in whom 
Jt\ viil'51?' whosoever believe th shall live, though he 

1 Thess. iv, 13, ^ an( j w j losoever ]i V eth and believeth booh, 

IJhfif/i-s? 7 ' * n him slia11 not die eternally: we meekly 1549 7 ' 
?>£?*■ 3 ■*■ beseech thee, O Father, to raise us from the death 

Phil. 111, 8-1 1. 

isa. ivii, 1, 2. of sin unto the life of righteousness ; that when we 

2 Tim X1 i, 2 i 4 8. shall depart this life we may rest in Him ; and at 
RevTxiv, 9 ^. the general resurrection on the last day may be 
Satt. X xxv, 2 2 4'. found acceptable in thy sight, and receive that bless- 
ing which thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce 
to all that love and fear thee, saying, Come, ye blessed 
children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared 
for you from the beginning of the world. Grant 
this, we beseech thee, O Merciful Father, through 
Jesus Christ our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen. 

The Collect. This beautiful, final plea at 
the grave as we turn away to take up again 
life's duties belongs, like the prayer preceding 
it, to the Revision in A. D. 1552. It is a pro- 
fession of faith and a prayer for grace that all 



xxv, 24 
1 Pet. i, 3-5. 
Rom. v, 21. 



Burial of the Dead 279 

the saints of the Lord may be preserved 
blameless, and have at last an abundant en- 
trance into the eternal kingdom. The body 
was carried to the church with open declara- 
tion of belief in immortality through Jesus 
Christ ; it is laid in the grave with firm hope of 
resurrection, and it is left in its rest with the 
prayers of the living, that they, too, may be 
worthy of the life of joy and felicity in the 
kingdom of God. The services fitly close with 
our Lord's own words, and the Apostolic 
Benediction breathing the peace of the Holy 
Spirit. 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
bread : and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
them that trespass against us : and lead us not into 
temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine is the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. 
Amen. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love 
of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be 
with us all evermore. Amen. 



Chapter XV 

CONSECRATIONS AND ORDINATIONS 

Introductory Note 

Ordination is an act by which a Church confers 
authority upon its chosen officers to minister the 
rites of religion. Christ instituted the Christian 
Ministry (Mark iii, 14), and the New Testament is 
authority for ordination. Thus, in Acts xiv, 21-23, 
recording the organization of Churches at I/ystra, 
Iconium, and Antioch, it is said Paul and Barnabas 
"ordained elders in every Church," and in accord- 
ance with this practice the Apostle Paul in his 
Epistle to Titus (i, 5) writes: "For this cause I left 
thee in Crete that thou shouldst set in order the 
things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every 
city, as I appointed [directed] thee." In Acts vi, 
1-7, is the account of the appointment of deacons to 
serve in the Church at Jerusalem ; and other ordina- 
tions are mentioned in Acts xiii, 1-4 ; 1 Tim. iv, 14 ; 
v, 22\ 2 Tim. i, 6. Nowhere is there any record or 
intimation that any one was ever appointed to a 
ministerial office in the Church without ordination. 

The Form of ordination was the imposition of 
hands with prayer, a mode employed in the syna- 
gogue, and derived probably from Exodus xxix, 
Leviticus viii, and other passages. Thus in the 
ordination of the deacons at Jerusalem (Acts vi, 
1-7), the first ordination on record and which served 
280 



Consecrations and Ordinations 281 

as a model for all subsequent ordinations in the 
Apostolic Church, we read that the multitude 
chose certain holy men "whom they set before the 
apostles ; and when they had prayed, they laid their 
hands upon them." So also in the consecration of 
Paul and Barnabas to special work. "The Holy 
Ghost said, Separate me [aqtopioare, set apart ; afopia/ibc, 
a setting apart — used by Greek writers and John Wes- 
ley for the Latin ordinare, ordinatio] Barnabas and 
Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 
And when they [the ministers at Antioch] had fasted 
and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent 
them away." Paul exhorts Timothy (i Tim. iv, 14) 
not to neglect the gift given him "with the laying 
on of the hands of the presbytery." (See also 2 
Tim. i, 6.) And in the First Epistle v, 22, he exhorts 
him to "lay hands suddenly on no man." The act is 
symbolic of the imparting of the Holy Ghost, which 
is prayed for, and is the sacred form of blessing ; 
thus the last act of the Divine Lord for his disciples : 
" And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he 
lifted up his hands, and blessed them, and it came 
to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from 
them and carried up into heaven." (Luke xxiv, 

50. 5i.) 

The effect of ordination is not the impartation of 
any Divine power or qualification for any office in 
the Church of God. Priestly power, such as is 
claimed by the Roman and Greek Churches and a cer- 
tain school in the Anglican Church, is wholly unknown 
to the New Testament and the age immediately suc- 
ceeding the apostles. God alone gives power. He 
alone gives the Holy Ghost. The Church can give, 



282 History of the Ritual 

and does give, that only which she possesses — the au- 
thority to use the gifts and qualifications of the can- 
didate, already bestowed by the grace of God, in the 
service of God. No one has any right to execute 
the office of a minister in the Church of God with- 
out this authority. Should he do so, he is a violator 
of law, a contemner of apostolic order and disci- 
pline, a usurper, one who climbs into the fold "some 
other way, and the same is a thief and a robber." 

Of the various kinds of ministers in the New 
Testament it is not necessary to speak, but of those 
only which belong to the settled, organized, perma- 
nent form of the ministry. Of these we meet 
with the names of deacons, presbyters, and bishops. 
Deacons were distinct from presbyters or elders in 
the functions of their office, and were, therefore, a 
separate and lower order from that of presbyters, to 
whom was committed the whole care of the Church. 
Bishops and presbyters were not distinct orders by 
any Divine command or by the granting of any su- 
perior power. In the New Testament they are one 
and the same order. On this subject it will be well 
to quote the high Anglican authority, Riddle, who, 
in his standard work, "A Manual of Christian An- 
tiquities," says : " Bishop and presbyters were not 
at first distinct orders, but the bishop was only the 
chief in a body of presbyters. And the same titles 
of distinction were applied to both, . . . presi- 
dents. When the first place was assigned to the 
bishops, they were only primi inter pares — chief 
among equals. It is, however, correct to say that 
the order \_i. e. y degree, office] of bishop is different 
from that of a presbyter ; if we mean by this only 



Consecrations and Ordinations 283 

that a bishop is a presbyter invested by the Church 
with superior rank and authority, and intrusted with 
the discharge of duties appropriated by the same 
authority to the episcopal office. The original com- 
mission, divinely given to all presbyters, whether 
bishops or others, is alike ; but from a very early 
period of the Church, probably ever since the be- 
ginning of the second century, the Church has 
judged it right and expedient to adopt a regular 
and permanent system of superintendency and 
subordination among her ministers, corresponding, 
in some respects, to the state of things in Crete 
when Titus resided in that island, possessed of a 
delegated authority over the other elders of the 
Church, or in Ephesus, where Timothy was charged 
with a similar (temporary) superintendence." And 
this learned authority, after citing various writers 
from Jerome down, concludes: "Upon the whole, 
then, it appears that the order [or office] of a bishop 
is above that of a priest [elder] ; not by any author- 
ity of Scripture, but only by the custom of the 
Church, or by virtue of an ecclesiastical arrange- 
ment." (Second Edition, p. 242.) 

The historical basis of our ministry is the ordi- 
nation of our first bishop, Thomas Coke, by Wesley. 
Yielding to the providential call, and following the 
example of the Primitive Church at Alexandria, 
whose presbyters, when deprived of a bishop, chose 
one from among themselves and ordained him to 
that office, John Wesley "set apart" Thomas Coke, 
a presbyter of the Church of England, to the office 
of a superintendent over the Church in America, 
and commissioned him to ordain Francis Asbury for 



284 History of the Ritual 

the same episcopal office. He also sent a Liturgy, 
containing forms for ordaining superintendents, 
elders, and deacons. The authoritative statement 
on this subject is the historical account of the " Ori- 
gin of the Methodist Episcopal Church," contained 
in the Discipline of 1789 and often reprinted: 

" Section 4. — On the Constituting of Bishops and their 
Duty. 

"Ques. 1. What is the proper origin of the epis- 
copal authority in our Church? 

"Ans. In the year 1784 the Rev. John Wesley, 
who, under God, has been the father of the great 
revival of religion now extending over the earth by 
the means of the Methodists, determined, at the in- 
tercession of multitudes of his spiritual children on 
this continent, to ordain ministers for America, and 
for this purpose sent over three regularly-ordained 
clergy; but preferring the episcopal mode of Church 
government to any other, he solemnly set apart, by 
the imposition of hands and prayer, one of them — 
namely, Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law, late of 
Jesus College in the University of Oxford — for the 
episcopal office, and having delivered to him letters 
of episcopal orders, commissioned and directed him 
to set apart Francis Asbury, then general assistant 
of the Methodist Society in America, for the same 
episcopal office, by prayer and the imposition of 
the hands of the said Thomas Coke, other regularly- 
ordained ministers assisting in the sacred ceremony. 
At which time the General Conference held at Balti- 
more did unanimously receive the said Thomas 
Coke and Francis Asbury as their bishops, being 



Consecrations and Ordinations 285 

fully satisfied of the validity of their episcopal or- 
dination." 

Thus spoke the fathers five years after the organ- 
ization of the Church concerning the historical basis 
of our ministry — ordination. 

The Form of Consecrating Bishops. 

[This service is not to be understood as an ordination to 
a higher Order in the Christian Ministry, beyond and above 
that of Elders or Presbyters, but as a solemn and fitting Con- 
secration for the special and most sacred duties of Superin- 
tendency in the Church.] 

The Collect. 
Almighty God, who by thy Son Jesus Christ didst j hn xx, 21, 22. 
give to thy holy Apostles, Elders, and Evangelists Act'sii*'^' 8 * 
Salisbury man Y excellent gifts, and didst charge £*" ™* 2 |f' l6 ' 
ase# them to feed thy flock: give grace, we Eph. vi, 18-20. 

J ° ° ' 1 Cor. xii, 7-10 ; 

beseech thee, to all the Ministers and Pastors of thy *iv, 33, 4°- 
Church, that they may diligently preach thy word Heb. xiii,' 7 , i 7 . 
and duly administer the godly discipline thereof; Revfi?,' Jo"' I2 ' 
and grant to the people that they may obediently 
follow the same, that all may receive the crown of 
everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen. 

This service. The note inclosed in brackets 
was inserted in 1884. The necessity for it, in 
the light of our history and of the teachings 
of the New Testament, and the practice of the 
Church in its formative period, does not fully 
appear. The opinion was never held in Meth- 
odism that bishops were of a higher order 
by Divine right or expressed command, be- 



286 History of the Ritual 

yond that of prebyters or elders, nor on the 
other hand did any one ever imagine that a 
presbyter or elder, as such, was a bishop. The 
Episcopate is an office to which a presbyter 
is elected and ordained, as a presbyter is or- 
dained to his office, and so far as ordination 
makes a distinction between offices in the 
powers, authority, and responsibility belong- 
ing to them, the Episcopate is an order. (See 
Emory, "Defense of Our Fathers.") If the 
ordination of a deacon puts one in the order 
of deacons, and the second ordination puts 
him in the order of elders or presbyters, where 
does the third ordination place him? It makes 
no difference whether the word "consecrate" 
is used instead of "ordain," for both words 
have been used interchangeably for ages ; nor 
does it make any difference whether we say 
"office" or "order," for these terms are also 
interchangeable. There is no office in the 
ministry analogous to the episcopal office. It 
is sui generis, and no ingenuity of phrase can 
escape the simple truth that Episcopacy is an 
order. We do not ordain or consecrate an 
elder to the office of presiding elder, nor other 
ministers to other offices of ecclesiastical ad- 
ministration, for the significant and conclu- 
sive reason that however flexible words and 



Consecrations and Ordinations 287 

phrases may be in the hands of controversial- 
ists, the Church has never felt that such sol- 
emn services as are used in ordaining to the 
episcopal office could be justified by any sort 
of reasoning for inducting mere officials into 
temporary offices. The instinct of the Church, 
which is often followed regardless of consist- 
ency, clearly apprehends that the office of 
Episcopacy is in no sense or degree such an 
office as are other offices in the Christian min- 
istry. It differs from them in function, au- 
thority, and purpose. And yet it must not be 
understood that Episcopacy is an order by 
Divine right or express command. It is an 
order only by ecclesiastical right and custom, 
and for the well-being, not the essential being, 
of the Church. 

The Collect. This short prayer, which ap- 
propriately begins the service by invoking 
special grace for special purposes, is taken 
from the Book of Common Prayer, with few 
changes and the insertion of the clause relat- 
ing to administration of discipline. There 
must be governors where there is society, and 
the Church can not exist without rulers. 
Hence prayer is made that those who govern 
in the Church of God may have grace to preach 
Thy Word, by which we are instructed in all 



288 History of the Ritual 

duties. And duly administer. That is, in 
proper spirit, as fellow-mortals also erring, 
and with the purpose of reforming rather than 
punishing. The godly discipline thereof. As 
may be learned by examples of the apostles 
in the New Testament, reproving, exhorting, 
excluding. Grant to the people. Special grace 
is also needed by the laity, that for the glory 
of God in the holy character of the Church 
and for the sake of their own souls they may, 
by subduing all vain suggestions of carnal 
pride, submit themselves to the godly admo- 
nition of faithful pastors, who, not as men, 
but as ministers of Christ, watch over the flock 
committed to their care, and for which they 
must givQ an account. 

Then shall be read by one of the Elders, 

The Epistle. Acts xx, 17-35. 

From Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus, and called 
the elders of the Church. And when they were 
come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the 
first day that I came to Asia, after what manner I 
have been with you at all seasons, serving the I,ord 
with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and 
temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of 
the Jews: and how I kept back nothing that was 
profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have 
taught you publicly, and from house to house, tes- 



Consecrations and Ordinations 289 

tifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, re- 
pentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord 
Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the 
spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that 
shall befall me there : save that the Holy Ghost wit- 
nesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflic- 
tions abide me. But none of these things move me, 
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I 
might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, 
which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify 
the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, 
I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preach- 
ing the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. 
Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am 
pure from the blood of all men. For I have not 
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. 
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the 
flock, over the w T hich the Holy Ghost hath made you 
overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath 
purchased with his own blood. For I know this, 
that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter 
in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your 
own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things 
to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, 
and remember, that by the space of three years I 
ceased not to warn every one night and day with 
tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, 
and to the word of his grace, which is able to build 
you up, and to give you an inheritance among all 
them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's 
silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, 
that these hands have ministered unto my neces- 
sities, and to them that were with me. I have 

19 



290 History of the Ritual 

showed you all things, how that so laboring ye 
ought to support the weak, and to remember the 
words of the L,ord Jesus, how he said, It is more 
blessed to give than to receive. 

Then shall be read by one of the elders. The 
participation of the elders in the consecration 
of a bishop is in harmony with the practice 
of the Church in the apostolic and sub-apos- 
tolic days. No arguments derived from prac- 
tices of the third or fourth centuries can 
invalidate the testimony of the first and second 
centuries. Presbyters ordained one of their 
number to be the president over all, primus 
inter pares; and only by degrees was this in- 
herent right of the presbyters given solely into 
the hands of the Episcopoi. The fact that the 
Scripture selected to be read clearly teaches 
not only the duties of a bishop, but also that 
bishops and presbyters in the time of the apos- 
tles were identical, is a significant indication 
of the belief of the Church. 

The?i another shall read % 

The Gospel. St. John xxi, 15-17. 

Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, 
lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto 
him, Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee. He 
saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him 



Consecrations and Ordinations 291 

again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest 
thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou 
knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed 
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, 
son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved 
because he said unto him the third time, Lovest 
thou -me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou know- 
est all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus 
saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 

Or this: St. Matthew xxviii, 18-20. 

Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go 
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am 
with you alway, even unto the end of the world. 

After the Gospel and the Sermon are e?ided, the 
Elected Person shall be prese?ited by two Elders 
unto the Bishop, sayi?ig y 

We present unto you this holy man to be conse- 
crated a Bishop. 

Elected by the laity and clergy from among 
the presbyters or elders, two of the elders pre- 
sent the elect in the name of all the people and 
presbyters, as was the custom in ancient times. 
(See Riddle, "Christ. Antiq.;" Bingham,, 
"Christ. Antiq.") 



292 History of the Ritual 

Then the Bishop shall move the Congregation present 
to pray, saying thus to them: 

Brethren, it is written in the Gospel of Saint 
Luke vi, 12, i 3 . Luke that our Savior Christ continued the whole 
Heb. ffiSr* ni gkt in prayer before he did choose and Salisbury 
1 Cor. xi, i. sen( j f^k hi s twelve Apostles. It is ***** 

written also in the Acts of the Apostles that the dis- 
ciples who were at Antioch did fast and pray before 
they laid hands on Paul and Barnabas, and sent them 
forth on their first mission to the Gentiles. Let us 
therefore, following the example of our Savior Christ, 
and his Apostles, first fall to prayer before we admit 
and send forth this person presented to us to the 
work whereunto we trust the Holy Ghost hath called 
him. 

Tlien the bishop. In the old Gallican Ordi- 
nal there is an exhortation to the people, and 
from time immemorial the people have par- 
ticipated in the consecration of the elder 
chosen by them for the Episcopacy, following 
in this the practice of the Church in New- 
Testament days. The Holy Ghost hath called 
him. The Holy Spirit called Paul and Barna- 
bas, and the Church ordained them to the 
designed mission. In like manner the Church 
now consecrates those who believe they are 
called to the office of a bishop. One may- 
choose to do the work of a bishop, resting 
solely on his inward call ; but notwithstanding 



Consecrations and Ordinations 293 

that call, only the Church can give that call 
validity for the exercise of the office in the 
Church. The Holy Spirit did not call Paul 
or Barnabas independently of the Church. 
The call came to the Church to set apart those 
holy men, and thus the Church alone had 
authority to give them commission. The 
Divine call is of a twofold nature. It is inward 
and outward ; in the man and by the Church. 
Enthusiasm for God is subject to the laws 
of God. 

Then shall the following prayer be offered: 

Almighty God, Giver of all good things, who by 
thy Holy Spirit hast appointed divers Offices in thy Eph!"^"^ 
Salisbury Church : mercifully behold this thy serv- 
^^ ant now called to the Work and Ministry 
of a Bishop, and replenish him so with the truth of 
thy doctrine, and adorn him with innocency of life, 
that both by word and deed he may faithfully serve 
thee in this Office, to the glory of thy name, and the 
edifying and well governing of thy Church, through 
the merits of our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth 
and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, world 
without end. Amen. 

Prayer be offered. All kneeling. The 
prayer is for the special gift of the Holy Ghost, 
that the elect may be able to perform the 
duties belonging to the Episcopate, which no 



294 History of the Ritual 

one can do to the glory of God without the 
help and guidance of the Spirit breathed by 
Christ upon his apostles and poured out upon 
all on the day of Pentecost. Divers offices. 
The old ordinals had "divers orders;" but 
there is no evidence in Scripture or in history 
that Almighty God appointed divers orders 
in the Christian ministry in the sense that the 
term "order" is understood by theorizers on 
apostolical succession. With the truth of thy 
doctrine. The office of a bishop is to teach, 
and he must therefore know the truth. But 
knowledge is not enough. He must be pure 
and holy, hence the prayer to adorn him with 
innocency of life. A self-seeking, crafty, am- 
bitious, unclean man is unthinkable in this 
responsible station, this pinnacle of influence 
and authority in the Church of God. His life 
before all must be beautiful in its trans- 
parency, humble as a child, pure as a lily — 
firm with all gentleness for the edifying, up- 
building, and well-governing, not governing, 
but well governing, of the ministry and laity ; 
for a bishop is not merely the head of the min- 
istry, is the chief pastor of the people. Where- 
fore the apostle said, "Take heed unto your- 
selves and to all the flock over which the Holy 
Ghost hath made you overseers." 



22. 

XX, 28. 



Consecrations and Ordinations 295 



Then the Bishop shall say to him that is to be Conse- 
crated : 
Brother, forasmuch as the Holy Scriptures com- , Tim v 
mand that we should not be hasty in laying on A ^f. s xx .».. 2 

J J ° 1 lim. in, 2, 7. 

Salisbury hands and admitting any person to gov- 
a9e< ernment in the Church of Christ, which 
he hath purchased with no less price than the 
shedding of his own blood; before you are ad- 
mitted to this administration, you will, in the fear 
of God, give answer to the questions which I now 
propound : 

Are you persuaded that you are truly called to 
this Ministration, according to the will of our I^ord 
Jesus Christ ? 

Ans. I am so persuaded. 

The Bishop. Are you persuaded that the Holy iTim ffi % 
Scriptures contain sufficiently all doctrine required Titus »» i\ 5 ; 
of necessity for eternal salvation, through faith in 
Jesus Christ? And are you determined out of the 
same Holy Scriptures to instruct the people com- 
mitted to your charge, and to teach or maintain 
nothing as required of necessity to eternal salvation 
but that which you shall be persuaded may be con- 
cluded and proved by the same ? 

Ans. I am so persuaded and determined, by 
God's grace. 

The Bishop. Will you then faithfully exercise 
yourself in the same Holy Scriptures, and call upon Ps. cxix, 18. 
God by prayer for the true understanding of the Titus S^?. 
same, so that you may be able by them to teach and 2 im " xv ' 2 ' 
exhort with wholesome doctrine, and to withstand 
and convince the gainsayers? 

Ans. I will do so, by the help of God. 



296 History of the Ritual 



Titus i, 5 ; iii, 10. 



Titus ii, 11, 12. 
1 Tim. iii, 1-7; 
iv, 12 ; v, 14. 
Titus ii, 7, 8. 



2 Tim. ii, 16, 22- 

25; iy, 2. 
Tit. i, 13; ii, 15. 

1 Tim. i, 9-1 1 ; 
v, 20, 19. 

2 Cor. xiii, 10. 



Titus i, 5. 
2 Tim. ii, 2. 
Acts xiv, 23. 



2 Tim. ii, 24. 
Luke vi, 36. 
i John iii, 17. 
Heb. xiii, 2. 



7%£ Bishop. Are you ready with faithful diligence 
to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange 
doctrines contrary to God's word, and both privately 
and openly to call upon and encourage others to the 
same? 

Ans. I am ready, the Lord being my helper. 

The Bishop. Will you deny all ungodliness and 
worldly lust, and live soberly, righteously, and godly 
in this present world, that you may show yourself in 
all things an example of good works unto others, 
that the adversary may be ashamed, having nothing 
to say against you ? 

Ans. I will do so, the Lord being my helper. 

The Bishop. Will you maintain and set forward, 
as much as shall lie in you, quietness, love, and 
peace among all men ; and such as shall be unquiet, 
disobedient, and criminal, correct and punish accord- 
ing to such authority as you have by God's word, 
and as shall be committed unto you ? 

Ans. I will do so, by the help of God. 

The Bishop. Will you be faithful in ordaining, or 
laying hands upon and sending others, and in all the 
other duties of your office ? 

Ans. I will so be, by the help of God. 

The Bishop. Will you show yourself gentle, and 
be merciful, for Christ's sake, to poor and needy 
people, and to all strangers destitute of help? 

Ans. I will so show myself, by God's help. 

Then shall the bishop say. It would seem 
that the bishop should be seated during this 
examination, the bishop-elect standing before 
him. This was the primitive mode, and is the 



Consecrations and Ordinations 297 

form still followed by the Church of England. 
There is certainly no reason why the conse- 
crator should stand. This is a compulsory 
examination, and by the authority of the 
Church the consecrator is at this moment in 
a judicial office, and analogy suggests that 
being seated with the elders about him is the 
proper form. Truly called. He may be per- 
suaded of it if he has sought service and not 
place, if he is elected by the free suffrages of 
his brethren, and every one knows when he 
means right. The will of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The will of Christ concerning position in his 
Church is, "He that would be greatest among 
you let him be the servant of all." The Holy 
Scriptures contain all doctrine required of neces- 
sity. The conviction that the Holy Scriptures 
are a sufficient revelation of the will of God 
without recourse to other sources or means of 
man's devising, lies at the foundation of evan- 
gelical usefulness. May be concluded or proved 
by the same. The idea is that all teaching, 
preaching, and instruction of every kind must 
be in harmony with the Scriptures as they may 
be interpreted by the voice of the general 
Church. And call upon God by prayer for the 
true understanding of the same. This is a call 
to a holy life of Scripture study and prayer 



298 History of the Ritual 

for mastery in the deep things of God. He 
who does this will have that heavenly minded- 
ness which is the fruitful soil of all graces that 
adorn the lives of Christ's holy ministers. 
Correct and punish. Not by physical means, 
but according to the Discipline of the Church, 
authorized by God's Word. 

Then the Bishop shall say : 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, who hath 
given you a good will to do all these things, grant 
Salisbury a l so unto you given strength and power to 
aae » perform the same, that he accomplishing 
in you the good work which he has begun, you may 
be found blameless at the last day, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Then shall the bishop say. Rising, if seated, 
and repeating this prayer, all the people re- 
sponding, Amen. Then, all kneeling, the 
bishop, ministers, and people are to repeat re- 
sponsively the following: 

Then shall Veni, Creator Spiritus, be said; 

Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, 
And lighten with celestial fire. 
Thou the anointing Spirit art, 
Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart. 
Thy blessed unction from above 
Is comfort, life, and fire of love. 



Consecrations and Ordinations 299 

Enable with, perpetual light 
The dullness of our blinded sight • 

Anoint and cheer our soiled face 
With the abundance of thy grace ; 

Keep far our foes, give peace at home; 
Where thou art Guide, no ill can come. 

Teach us to know the Father, Son, 
And Thee of both to be but ONE; 
That through the ages all along 
This may be our endless song : 
Praise to thy eternal merit, 
Father *, Son, a?id Holy Spirit. 

This hymn was introduced into the service 
for the consecration of presbyters probably in 
the eleventh century. It is found in all the Eng- 
lish Ordinals, except that of Winchester, and 
is considered one of the most ancient hymns 
of the Church. The above translation is by 
John Cosin, Bishop of Durham, and was in- 
serted in 1662. This invocation of the Holy 
Ghost and all the prayers for the special out- 
pouring of the Holy Spirit give this service 
of consecration certainly as much significance 
as belongs to the consecration of elders. 

That ended, the Bishop shall say t 

Iyord, hear our Prayer. 

Ans. And let our Cry come unto thee. 



300 History of the Ritual 

The bishop shall say. Still kneeling. Our 
cry. Minister and people are all supplicating 
the Source of all grace and power in behalf 
of the bishop-elect, that he may be filled with 
the Holy Ghost in great measure for his spe- 
cial duties. Since all prayer that is acceptable 
to God is in faith that God will do that which 
is for his glory, we may confidently believe 
that in ordination the prayers of the Church 
are answered. 

The Bishop shall then say, 

Let us pray. 

Almighty and Most Merciful Father, who of thine 
infinite goodness hast given thine only and dearly- 
Saifebury beloved Son Jesus Christ to be our Re- 
a8e * deemer, and the author of everlasting 
life; who, after that he had made perfect our re- 
demption by his death, and was ascended into 
heaven, poured down his gifts abundantly upon 
men, making some Apostles, some Prophets, some 
Evangelists, some Pastors and Teachers, to the edi- 
fying and making perfect of his Church: grant, we 
beseech thee, to this thy servant, such grace that he 
may evermore be ready to spread abroad thy Gospel, 
the glad tidings of reconciliation with thee, and use 
the authority given him, not to destruction, but to 
salvation ; not to hurt, but to help ; so that as a wise 
and faithful servant, giving to the family their por- 
tion in due season, he may at last be received into 



Consecrations and Ordinations 301 

everlasting joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, 
with thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, 
one God, world without end. Amen. 

Then the Bishop and Elders present shall lay their 
hands tipon the head of the Elected Person, kneel- 
ing before them, the Bishop saying : 

The Lord pour upon thee the Holy Ghost for the 
Office and Work of a Bishop in the Church of God 
now committed unto thee by the authority of the 
Church through the imposition of our hands, in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. Amen. And remember that thou stir 
up the grace of God which is in thee ; for God hath 
not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and 
love, and of a sound mind. 

Bishop and the elders present. The elders 
selected are not consecrators, but assistants; 
not because elders have not the right to or- 
dain — for that they do possess this right is 
conceded in their appointment to assist in the 
ordination of a bishop — but for the reason that 
when a bishop is present or is obtainable, to 
him alone by authority of the Church is given 
the authority to ordain. Lay their hands upon 
the head. This symbolic act is as old as re- 
ligion. It is the sign of conferring something. 
What the bishop and the elders confer is not 
the Holy Ghost, as the words of the Anglican 



302 History of the Ritual 

form suggest, but that only which they have 
the right to bestow. The bishop saying. The 
first among equals, and representing all. The 
Lord pour upon thee the Holy Ghost. In the 
Anglican book the form is, "Receive the Holy 
Ghost for the Office and Work of a Bishop," 
etc., and the same form was in our Ritual until 
1864, when, in order to avoid misapprehen- 
sion, the present form was substituted. For 
the office and work of a bishop. The prayers of 
the Church and the words of consecration 
specifically mentioning the grace required 
and the ministry to be performed, dis- 
tinctly differentiates the episcopal office from 
every other office in the Church of God. 
Whether, then, Episcopacy is an office or 
an order is nothing more than a logomachy. 
It is something distinct by virtue of this sol- 
emn service of the Holy Ghost, who is con- 
stantly invoked, from all else ; and that some- 
thing can not be the same as, nor less than, 
the ordained person was before his consecra- 
tion. Now committed unto thee by the authority 
of the Church. The Church is the source of 
authority, for it was to the Church that the 
gifts of ministries were given, and those only 
have the right to minister in the Church who 
have received authority from the Church 



Consecrations and Ordinations 303 

through her agents or instruments — the min- 
istr}\ In the Name. Thus completing the act, 
and sealing it with the holy name of the 
Triune God. 

Then shall the Bishop deliver to him the Bible \ 
saying : 

Give Heed unto reading, exhortation, and doc- x Tim iv 6 
trine. Think upon the things contained in this J A ohn x > *>• } 2 - 

* ° Acts xx, 28, 29. 

<^Hqburv book. Be diligent in them, that the in- * Pet. v, i 7 8. 

oaiio^ui> <_> ^ £,zek. xxxiv, 

U8e * crease coming thereby may be manifest 2- 4) n, 16. 
unto all men. Take heed unto thyself, and to thy Lukeiv, i8; 4 ' 
doctrine ; for by so doing thou shalt both save thy- 2 £>* . % xi i, 2 , 8, 
self and them that hear thee. Be to the flock of I J^s,Vio! 
Christ a shepherd, not a wolf; feed them, devour 
them not. Hold up the weak, heal the sick, bind 
up the broken, bring again the outcast, seek the 
lost ; be so merciful that you may not be too remiss ; 
so minister discipline that }-ou forget not mercy; 
that when the chief Shepherd shall appear, you may 
receive the never-fading crown of glory, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

[Then the Bishop shall administer the Lord's Supper to 
the newly-consecrated Bishop and other persons present.] 

Deliver to him the Bible. That is, into his 
hands. The fourth Council of Carthage di- 
rected that the New Testament, literally 
"Evangeliorum Codicem," should be placed 
on the head and neck, "super caput et cervi- 
cem," while the bishops present laid hands on 
the elected person's head. Some Oriental 



304 History of the Ritual 

Churches give the book open, others closed. 
Be to the Hock of Christ a shepherd. This 
charge is common to all the historic Churches, 
both East and West. Morinus quotes from 
the order of the Syrian Maronites this charge : 
"Pascite gregem Dei, qui creditus est manibus 
vestris, et visitate ilium spiritualiter, non vio- 
lenter sed sponte, non propter lucra turpia 
. . . ut sitis bonum exemplar," the closing 
words of which are identical with our own, 
"Ut cum apparebit Princeps Pastorum, accip- 
iatis ab eo coronam quae non marcescit," 
"That when the Chief Shepherd shall appear 
you may receive from him the crown which 
fadeth not away." 

Then shall be offered the following Prayers : 

Most Merciful Father, we beseech thee to send 
a Times'; iv, down upon this thy servant thy heavenly blessing, 
i fim. iv, ii, 12, and to so endue him with thy Holy Spirit that he, 
2 T 4 im 5 iv -8 preaching thy Word, and exercising authority in thy 
Rev. ii, io. Church, may not only be earnest to reprove, beseech, 

i Tim. vi, 13-16. ' j j 

and rebuke with all patience and doctrine, but also 
may be, to such as believe, a wholesome example in 
word, in conversation, in love, in faith, and in purity; 
that faithfully fulfilling his course, at the last day 
he may receive the crown of righteousness laid up 
by the Lord, the righteous Judge, who liveth and 
reigneth, one God with the Father and the Holy 
Ghost, world without end. Amen. 



Consecrations and Ordinations 305 

Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings with thy 
most gracious favor, and further us with thy con- 
tinual help, that in all our works, begun, continued, 
and ended in thee, we may glorify thy holy name; 
and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Most merciful Father. These short prayers 
are adaptations from certain prayers in the 
Salisbury Ordinal, and have been used in Eng- 
land through all these centuries. Prevent us. 
'Prcevenio, I come before; the original mean- 
ing being almost the opposite of the present 
signification. God is supplicated not to hin- 
der or to put obstacles in the way, but to re- 
move them, to go before, clearing the path. 

The peace of God, which passeth all understand- 
ing, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge 
and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our 
I,ord: and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be among you, and 
remain with you always. Amen. 

The Ritual for the ordination of elders is 
so similar to the form for the consecration of 
bishops that comment on it is unnecessary. 
Its source is the same, and all that need be 
said on its several parts has already been 
given, except this, that in giving the charge 
the bishop should be seated. The rubric does 



306 History of the Ritual 

not indicate this; but the rubric following, 
directing that the prayer, "Almighty God, 
who hath given you this will to do," etc., shall 
be said, reads, "Then shall the bishop, stand- 
ing up, say." This plainly teaches that when 
delivering the charge just preceding the 
bishop was not standing up, and he certainly 
was not kneeling; he must therefore have 
been sitting as an instructor giving godly ad- 
vice and admonition to the person about to 
assume the responsible duties of a presbyter. 
The form for the ordination of deacons is 
so simple, that the few observations which it 
invites would scarcely justify the printing of 
the whole of it, and it may be sufficient to say 
that it follows ancient models and preserves 
the practices of the early Church in appealing 
to the people to show reasons why the ordi- 
nation should not take place, and in giving 
the Holy Scriptures to the ordained. In the 
Collect the reading, "all good things," is not 
clear as to meaning. It is a translation of the 
Latin, "bonorum;" but this, it is said, is a 
corruption for "honorum," for in the Salis- 
bury Use we read, "Domine sancte, Pater om- 
nipotens, seterne Deus, honorum dator, ordi- 
numque distributor, ac officiorum disposi- 
tor,"— "Holy Lord, Almighty Father, Eternal 



Consecrations and Ordinations 307 

God, giver of honors, distributer of orders, and 
disposer of offices." 

The remaining forms for laying a corner- 
stone and the dedication of a church do not 
seem to require any special notes. They were 
inserted in the Ritual in 1864, and have under- 
gone no change. Thus we bring this work 
to a close, repeating the inspired words of the 
apostle, "Let all things be done decently 

AND IN ORDER." 



Index 

PAGE 

Act of Submission to the Clergy, 32 

Act of Uniformity under Elizabeth, 109 

Act of Uniformity under Charles II, .... 159 

Allen on Baptismal Formula, 190 

Alliance of James II with Nonconformists, 159 

Ancient Liturgies, 59 

Baptism, Introductory Note on Origin, Nature, etc., . . .187 

Baptism, Infant Always in the Church, 192 

Baptism, Infant, Comment on Office for, 193 

Baptismal Covenant, 200 

Baptism, Comment on Form for Adult, 209 

Beginnings of Parties in Church of England, 99 

Bishop, Consecration and Character of, 294 

Bishops Impeached by House of Commons, 142 

Bishops and Elders, 282 

Book of Common Prayer Abolished, 144 

Bucer Writes to Cranmer, 41 

Criticises Book of Common Prayer, 77 

Change by in Ritual, 253 

Bullinger, 74 

Burial of the Dead, Commentary on, 270 

Catholic Church, Meaning of, 219, 226 

Calvin Against the Gospellers, 75 

Against the Liturgy, 76, 93 

Change in Liturgy under James I, 134 

Charles I, King of England, 135 

Chapuys's Letter to Charles V, 25 

309 



3io Index 



PAGE 

Charles V and Henry's Divorce, 22 

Charles I and the Puritans, 135 

Charles II and the Presbyterians, 147 

Children as Probationers, 223 

Church Membership, Purpose of, 227 

Church of England on Episcopacy, 1 55 

Christmas Conference Adopts Ritual, 166, 168 

Coke, Dr., Brings Sunday Service, 13, 166 

Colet at Oxford, 18 

Collect, Probable Meaning of, 249 

Commission on Order of Communion, 52 

Commission Ordered on Liturgy under Edward VI, ... 59 
Commission on Revision of Liturgy under William of Orange, 160 

Commission on Christian Doctrine, 42 

Consecrations and Ordinations, 285 

Conference on the Lord's Supper, 52 

Cranmer, Character of, 28 

Agent of Henry VIII, 23 

Consecrated Archbishop, 28 



Debate on the Scriptures, 35 

Discipline of 1789 on Origin of Methodist Episcopacy, . . 284 

Discerning the Lord's Body, 238 

Doctrine of Real Presence, , . . 109 

Edward VI ascends Throne of England, 49 

Progress of Reformation under, 50 

Death of, 82 

Elizabeth, Queen of England, 103 

Proclamation of, on Religion, 104 

Revision under, 105 

Elizabeth, Conservatism of, 106 

Elizabeth's Revision of the Liturgy 107 

Final Effort Toward Revision, 119 

Erasmus on Luther, 127 



Index 311 



PAGE 

Foreign Sects in England, 74, 75 

Flight of the Reformed to the Continent, 86 

Fox, the Martyrologist, 91 

Frankfurt, Troubles at, 88 

Great Bible, Source of Ritual, 182 

Grocyne, 18 

Gregory the Great, Letter to Augustine, 1 78 

Hallam on Archbishop Laud, 136 

Hampton Court Conference, 129 

Harnack on Date of the Didache, 190 

Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon, 22 

Henry VIII, Supremacy of, in the Church of England, . i> 2 , 24 

Death of, 47 

Summary of His Reform Work, 48 

Herrman's "Deliberation," 181 

Hooker on the Word "Priest," 166 

Hooper, Letter of, on Ritual, 46 

Ignatius on Marriage, 260 

Impediments to Marriage, 264 

Infant Baptism, Form for, 192 

Jesse Lee on Methodist Episcopal Liturgy, ....... 169 

Justin Martyr on Time of the Lord's Supper, 240 

Kneeling, Rubric on, Expunged, 109 

Knox, John, at Frankfurt, 89 

Latimer's Famous Sermon, 39 

Laud, Archbishop, Character of, 136 

Lambert, Execution of, 46 

Legal Grounds against Marriage, 263 

Linacre at Oxford University, 18 



3i2 Index 



PAGE 

Macaulay, Lord, on Archbishop Laud, 136 

McGiffert, Prof., Views of, on Lord's Supper, 236 

Mary, Queen of England, 83 

Proclamation of, Against Heretical Books, 85 

Marian Exiles, The, 87 

Matrimony, Introductory Note on, 260 

Matrimony, Form for Solemnizing, 261 

Matrimony, Commentary on Form, 262 

Methodist Episcopal Church Established, 13 

Methodist Preachers Use the Liturgy, 169 

Methodists, Early Character of, 174 

Methodism and Forms, 171 

Millenary Petition, 126 

Ministers, Kinds of, in the New Testament, 282 

Momentum of the New Era, 43 

Morinus on Episcopal Charge, 304 

Naming of Children, 203 

Notker's Burial Hymn, 274 

Order of Communion, 54 

Ordinal the first, Date of, 69 

Ordinal, Important Change in, I S3 _I 5^ 

Origin of Office for Adult Baptism, 183 

Ordination, Meaning of, 280 

Ordination Basis of Methodist Ministry, 283 

Ordinations and Consecrations, Commentary on, 285 

Parker, Archbishop, Exhumed, 14 1 

Parties in English Church, 29 

Presbyterians and Episcopacy, I5 1 

Poynet, Bishop, on the Word "Superintendent," . . . .165 

Reformers before the Reformation, 19 

Reformation in England, *5> 2 ° 



Index 313 



PAGE 

Religious Ferment in England, 1536, 37 

Reception of Probationers and Members, 223 

Reform in Church Service, 51 

Religious State of England under Edward VI, 50 

Riddle on Bishops and Elders, 282 

Royal Decree for a Liturgy, . . * 59 

Sacrament, Meaning of, 187 

Sarum Use, The, 180 

"Saving Faith," Meaning of, 231 

Savoy Assembly, 152 

Scriptures Translated, 33 

Six Articles, The, 40 

"So to Eat," Meaning of, 251 

Sources of the Ritual, 175 

Tabular View of Liturgies, 62 

Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Quoted, 190, 247 

Tertullian on Marriage, 260 

Time for the Lord's Supper, 240 

Trine Baptism, 204 

Tyndale, Death of, 34 

Use, Proper, of the Form for the Lord's Supper, .... 243 

Veni, Creator, Translation of, 299 

Vestiarian Controversy, 79 

Vestments, Clerical, Origin of, 63 

Vow of Renunciation, 213 

Vow of Belief, 216 

Vow of Obedience, 220 

Wendt Quoted against McGiffert, 237 

Wesley, John, Revises English Ritual, 164 

Wesley's Liturgy, 166 

Whatcoat, Bishop, on the Liturgy, 168 

Wolsey, Cardinal, and the Divorce, 22 



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